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THE LIFE 



GEORGE H. STUART, 



WRITTEN BY HIMSELF. 



EDITED BY 

ROBT. ELLIS THOMPSON, D.D., 

UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 




PHILADELPHIA: 

J. M. STODDART & CO. 

1890. 






-■♦>r 

917 



Copyright, 1890, by George H. Stuart. 






£ 



TO 

HON. JOHN WAN A MAKER, 

POSTMASTER-GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES, 

THE CHERISHED FRIEND OF MANY YEARS, A COUNSELLOR IN MY PLANS 

AND A VALUED HELPER IN VARIED FIELDS OF LABOR, 

THESE MEMOIRS ARE 

GRATEFULLY DEDICATED 

BY THE AUTHOR. 




PAGE 

Editor's Introduction 13 

CHAPTER I. 

Early Years and School-Days in Ulster — Comes to Philadelphia in 
1 83 1 — Stuart and Brothers — Takes the Temperance Pledge in Pitts- 
burg — Welcomes Gough to Philadelphia — Marriage in 1837 — 
First and Second Visits to Ireland — First Knowledge of John 
Hall 27 

CHAPTER II. 

Church Relations in Philadelphia — Division of the Covenanters in 
1833 — Anecdote of Edwin M. Stanton — Church Membership— 
The two Drs. Wylie — A Sabbath- School Teacher — Promoted to 
Superintendency — Interest in Foreign Missions — The Story of 
James R. Campbell — " The Banner of the Covenant" — Interest 
in the Anti-Slavery Movement — The Armistad Negroes in Phila- 
delphia 44 

CHAPTER III. 

First Irish Presbyterian Delegation to America — The Work of the 
American Sunday-School Union — Chidlaw, Paxson, and McCul- 
laugh — Meets Dr. Duff in Edinburgh in 1851 — The great Mission- 
ary brought to America — Incidents of his Visit — New Church 
dedicated on Broad Street 66 

CHAPTER IV. 

The Berg-Barker Debate — The Young Men's Christian Association 
established in Philadelphia — Meetings of the Evangelical Alliance 
and the Young Men's Christian Association in Paris — Communes 
with the Alliance — Nominated to Congress — Bethany Sunday- 

5 



6 CONTENTS. 

FAGB 

School — St. Mary's Street Sunday-School for Colored Children- 
Purchase of Springbrook — The Revival of 1857 — Conversion of 
George J. Mingins — Mr. Henry Grattan Guinness's Labors in 
Philadelphia 92 

CHAPTER V. 

Third Irish Presbyterian Delegation — Dr. Edgar — Visit to Great 
Britain and Ireland with Dr. Murray — Describes Moody's Work at 
an Edinburgh Meeting — The Revival in Wales — Visit to Athlone 
Presbytery and the Scene of the Irish Revival — Dr. Murray's Last 
Days . . . 114 

CHAPTER VI. 

The Demands made by the War on the Young Men's Christian 
Associations — Their Convention founds the Christian Commission 
— Previous Workers in the Army — Members and Officers — Letter 
of Abraham Lincoln — Work of the Delegates — Generous Re- 
sponse to Demands for Funds — Getting Ice at Saratoga — Praying 
with John Minor Botts — Bishop Mcllvaine Presides at Epiphany 
and Visits the Front — Pittsburg Meeting — Address to the General 
Assembly at Newark — In Danger of being Shot at Camp Conva- 
lescent — News at Troy Meeting from Appomattox — " Housewives" 
for the Soldiers — Chapel Tents — Coffee-Wagon — " Identifiers" — 
Incidents and Results — Final Meeting 128 

CHAPTER VII. 

Death of Dr. James R. Campbell in India — Death of William David 
Stuart — His Sabbath-School — His Biography — Presenting the 
Bible to President Lincoln — His Letter to the Christian Com- 
mission — Call on General Grant — House bought for him in Phila- 
delphia — The Presentation — General Grant's Log Cabin — Letter 
to Freedmen's Aid Society 173 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Ninth Visit to Europe — Bible Society Address and Lord Shaftes- 
bury — Address before the Free Church Assembly and the Irish 
Assembly — Dr. Hall secured as Delegate to America — The 
Albany Convention of the Young Men's Christian Association — 



CONTENTS. 7 

PAGE 

The Irish Delegation in the American Assemblies — Dr. Hall 
called to the Fifth Avenue Church, and accepts — His Arrival . . 188 

CHAPTER IX. 

The Presbyterian Union Movement begun in the Reformed Presby- 
terian General Synod — The Reunion Convention of 1867 in Phil- 
adelphia — Dr. Robert Breckenridge Inharmonious — Dr. Charles 
Hodge Satisfied — The Episcopalians Visit the Convention — Its 
Happy Results— The Final Reunion of the two Assemblies in 
Pittsburg — My Suspension for Hymn-singing, and its Effects on 
the Reformed Presbyterian Church — Meeting to Endorse Nomi- 
nation of Grant and Colfax — Sad Death of Rev. Robert J. Parvin 
and William Garvin . 209 

CHAPTER X. 

Offered a place in President Grant's Cabinet — Secure the Selection 
of Mr. Borie and Mr. A. T. Stewart — Try to get Mr. Stewart to 

- Retain his Office by Retiring from Business — Presenting a Bible to 
President Grant — Instances of his Friendliness — His Indian Policy 
— Appointment of the Indian Commission — Its Services — National 
Convention of Sunday-School Workers at Newark — Made a 
Member of the Board of City Trusts — The Management of Girard 
College — Indian Chiefs at the Y. M. C. A. Convention — The 
Chicago Fire — Mr. Moody's Losses 233 

CHAPTER XI. 

Tenth Visit to Europe for the Evangelical Alliance — The Jubilee 
Singers in London — Secure Sheshadri for the Alliance — Its Meet- 
ing in New York — Bishop Cummins and the Reformed Epis- 
copal Church — Excursion to Washington — Mr. Hamilton Murray 
drowned in the Ville du Havre — New Building for the Young 
Men's Christian Association of Philadelphia — Mr. Moody's 
Labors in the Central Presbyterian Church — In Great Britain — 
Dr. Somerville becomes an Evangelist — The Profits of the " Gospel 
Songs" — Mr. Moody invited to Philadelphia — Fitting up the Old 
Depot — His Meetings and their Management — Some of the Re- 
sults — Collection for the Young Men's Christian Association — 
Labors of Mr. and Mrs. George C. Needham — Investigating the 
Story of " the Converted Priest" 261 



8 CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

CHAPTER XII. 

Liquidation of Stuart & Brother — Elected President of the Mer- 
chants' National Bank — Associations with 13 13 Spruce Street — 
Meeting Garfield at Chautauqua — His Death — Welcome Dennis 
Osborne to America — The Profound Impression he Makes — Gifts 
from Presbyterians — His Speech at the Cumberland Valley Re- 
union — Newman Hall — Major Malan — Mr. Baldwin's Mission in 
Morocco — Death of Bishop Simpson — Hudson Taylor's Chinese 
Mission — The Story of John C. Stewart — Death of General Grant 
— His Last Public Appearance — Death of Mr. Gough — Evangel- 
istic Labors of Alexander Patterson — The Conductor 292 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Religious Canvass of Philadelphia — Convention at Harrisburg — 
Death of John Patterson — His Management of the Swearing 
Quartermaster — Closing Years of Life — Residence at Clifton 
Springs Sanitarium — Relief of Mr. William A. Washington — 
Preaching in the Universalist Church at Clifton — Closing Words 
by Prof. Gilmore 320 



APPENDICES. 

L— The Six Stuarts 335 

II. — History of General Grant's Log Cabin 339 

III. — Letters from Generals Grant, Sherman, and others, on the 

Christian Commission 341 

IV. — Address before the British and Foreign Bible Society, London, 

May 2, 1866 348 

V. — Address on Lay Preaching before the Evangelical Alliance, 

New York, October 10, 1873 361 

VI. — The Clifton Springs Sanitarium — An Account of its Origin 

and Progress 369 



CLOSING HOURS. 

Death of George II. Stuart , 381 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



George H. Stuart (steel plate) Frontispiece. 

PAGE 

John Hall 43 

Wylie Memorial Church 48 

John Wanamaker 103 

Head-Quarters of the United States Christian Commission .... 171 

General Grant's Log Cabin 185 

George H. Stuart (from a photograph taken in 1866) 188 

George W. Childs 239 

Benjamin B. Comegys 256 

Rev. Narayan Sheshadri 265 

The Old Freight Depot in 1875-76 277 

Anthony J. Drexel 293 

Rev. Dennis Osborne ' 298 

General Ulysses S. Grant 312 

The Sanitarium at Clifton Springs 323 



AUTOGRAPH LETTERS. 

From Abraham Lincoln, December 12, 1861 133 

From U. S. Grant, January 12, 1866 168 

From General A. E. Burnside, March 20, 1866 . 170 

From U. S. Grant, January 4, 1865 182 



EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION. 



n 



RECEIVED 

JUL 2 « 1890 






EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION. 



" Read biographies," says Carlyle, " but especially 
autobiographies." Except the great works of imagina- 
tive genius, there are no books that bring us into more 
real and immediate relations with our fellow-men. And, 
indeed, it is a large part of the prerogative of a Shake- 
speare that he is able to make his characters unfold their 
own lives to us, if not in chronological sequence, yet in 
the substance of what they had experienced and had 
learned from experience. 

In Christian literature, from the time of Paul, or at 
least of Justin Martyr and Augustine of Hippo, autobi- 
ography has held a place of honor and usefulness not 
surpassed by any other kind of writing. This is because 
the worth of the individual ljian is so fully disclosed by 
the Gospel, and the substantial identity of spiritual ex- 
perience has created a lively interest in the experience 
of our fellow-Christians. We love to find the truth, as 
Paul loved to express it, in the concrete form of a life. 
Nor are we deterred by any appearance of egotism in 
such writing, for all genuine Christianity has the mark 
of referring all good to divine grace, and of giving God 
the glory in all things. Christian autobiography, like 

2 13 



14 EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION. 

that of Augustine, is a constant " confession" of obliga- 
tion to God, the giver of all good. Its note is his won- 
derful prayer: u Da quod jubes y et jube quod vis /" 

Autobiographies of this class divide themselves from 
each other as to their centre of interest. In some it is 
the inward experience of the heart which occupies us. 
The record is that of introspective natures whose mind 
is their kingdom. In others it is the leading of God in 
paths of usefulness and active service. It is to the latter 
class that the present book belongs. Its author has 
passed lightly over things of even the highest concern, 
where that was a personal concern only. He occupies 
himself with the narrative of the movements and the 
events in which he has taken part. 

It was not of his own motion that he undertook to 
write the story of his life. A number of his friends, 
knowing how abundant his life had been in experiences 
which were worthy of record, urged him to employ in 
this way the leisure of these later years, since he re- 
tired from business. He very naturally objected, on the 
ground of his lack of experience in book-making ; but 
it was suggested that he make as full a record as pos- 
sible, and then put the manuscript into my hands for 
editing. I felt very much honored by the suggestion, 
and undertook the work with no reluctance. Mr. Stuart 
has been to me for more than thirty years a very dear 
and valued friend, to whom I have learned to look with 
much of the regard a son owes to a father. Nor was 



EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION. 1 5 

the task so laborious as I expected. Thanks to the kind 
co-operation of Prof. Gilmore, of Rochester, in the prep- 
aration of the manuscript, I found it much more com- 
plete and satisfactory than I should have expected. It 
has been my task to rearrange it with reference to the 
order of time, to supply dates, to verify its statements 
by contemporary records of all kinds, so far as this was 
possible, and to suggest some additions which seemed 
necessary to round off the story. I have added notes 
in several places, for which I alone am responsible. 
Their character has been indicated by the signature 
" Ed." Important additions have been furnished by 
Mr. Thomas K. Cree, the International Secretary of the 
Y. M. C. A., and by others. 

Mr. Stuart's life extends through a memorable half- 
century of our country's history, and touches more or 
less closely upon all the great religious and philan- 
thropic movements of that time. While he has not 
taken any part in political life or sought any eminence 
in that field, he has been brought into contact with 
many of our public men, from the Anti-Slavery group 
of half a century ago, to Lincoln, Grant, and the na- 
tional leaders of our own time. On this account alone 
it is a life worth telling as a part of the history of the 
country, especially during what Mr. Lecky has well 
called "the heroic age of America/' — the years 1861- 
1865. On the other hand, he has occupied almost a 
unique position in our ecclesiastical life, as representing 



1 6 EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION. 

that spirit of unity which has been awakened in the 
American churches during and since the war. Warm 
as has been his attachment to the church of his early 
training, there are few men for whom lines of sectarian 
division have so little practical significance, and still 
fewer who have obtained such recognition from men 
of all names as being above all things a brother in 
Christ, to all who love and serve the common Master. 

In another respect this biography possesses a signifi- 
cance much wider than personal. Mr. Stuart represents 
those ties which have so closely connected the Irish 
province of Ulster to the American nation. Himself a 
native of that province, and one of the large immigra- 
tion which even in our century continues to strip it of 
its Scotch-Irish settlers, he also has continued to feel 
much more than an ordinary interest in its welfare, and 
to labor to the utmost of his ability and influence for 
the advancement of its people and its churches. In 
Ulster he is everywhere recognized as one who has lost 
nothing of his attachment to the home of his childhood 
and the people of his kindred. And in America no man 
of our generation has been more prominent as a repre- 
sentative of this stock. 

Ulster was the last province of Ireland to pass under 
the rule of England. Her earls were dispossessed of 
their lands at the close of Queen Elizabeth's reign; and, 
in accordance with English precedents, this was held to 
accomplish forfeiture of the rights of their tenants also. 



EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION. I? 

King James I. availed himself of the acquisition to pro- 
vide places and possessions for many of his Scottish 
countrymen in those northern counties of Ireland. Fam- 
ilies like the Knoxes of Dungannon, the Brownlows of 
Lurgan, and the Hills of Downshire, who had some 
claim on the favor of the crown, were given large estates 
in a province less fertile than the rest of the island, but 
much more so than are most parts of Scotland. These 
held out especial inducements to Scottish farmers to set- 
tle on their lands, their promises of this kind being the 
foundation of what is known as the "Ulster Tenant 
Right." These settlers generally were Presbyterians ; 
yet, as the Episcopal Church was by law established, it 
was not without a prolonged struggle that Presbyterian- 
ism managed to secure a foothold in Ireland. It was 
placed under grave disabilities of many kinds, some of 
which may be said to have even survived the disestab- 
lishment of 1868. It was this Protestant intolerance 
of Protestants which drove the Presbyterians of Ulster 
from Ireland to America in such numbers that the 
descendants of the old settlers on our side of the ocean 
are probably three times as numerous as those left at 
home. But with this co-operated the failure of many 
landlords to stand by the pledges given their tenants as 
an inducement to make their homes in Ulster. 

The first movement towards America was made in 
1636, but was a failure, the vessel in w T hich Robert Blair 

and his friends embarked being driven back by adverse 
b 2* 



1 8 EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION. 

winds. About 1670, or even earlier, an Ulster immigra- 
tion to Virginia and Maryland began, and seems to have 
lasted some ten years. To this was due the establish- 
ment of the first Presbyterian church in America, at 
Snow Hill in the latter State ; and also the appearance 
of a few Presbyterians in Pennsylvania after its settle- 
ment by the Friends. It was in the years 17 13-17 18 
that the great exodus from Ulster began, which did not 
spend its force before the middle of the century. The 
northern half of it sought Maine and New Hampshire, 
and made sporadic settlements in Boston, Worcester, 
and other towns of Massachusetts. The southern half 
poured into Pennsylvania, and then, following the trend 
of the Alleghanies, flowed southward, until the whole 
region from the Oil District in Pennsylvania to Hunts- 
ville in Alabama was occupied by Ulstermen. West 
Virginia, eastern Kentucky, most of North Carolina and 
a part of Southeastern Tennessee, and the adjacent parts 
of Georgia and Alabama were thus taken up. 

The immigration from Ulster was interrupted by the 
Revolution, but was renewed during the troubles in Ire- 
land in the last years of the eighteenth century, when 
many of the Presbyterians embraced the principles of 
the United Irishmen. It still continues, although Irish 
Presbyterians as a body are now friendly to the contin- 
uance of English rule in Ireland. And as so much of 
the blame of Irish misery has been charged to the land- 
lords, it is but fair to say that the freeholders, who 



EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION. 1 9 

formed no inconsiderable part of the people of County 
Down, have furnished many immigrants to America, 
Mr. Stuart's family being one instance. In the present 
economic condition of Ireland, prosperity would not be 
secured to its people by making over the land to them 
for nothing. 

In American history the Scotch-Irish have played a 
part second to no other element. They have not given 
the nation its intellectual and literary leaders, or its most 
eminent philanthropists. They have been behind the 
Puritan and the Quaker in these respects. Their con- 
tribution has been men of action and of personal force. 
They have given the country more presidents than any 
other stock, — Monroe, Jackson, Polk (Pollock), Taylor, 
Buchanan, Johnson, and Arthur ; in public life they have 
been represented by the Bayards, the Breckenridges, 
Brownlee, Calhoun (Colquhoun), Carlisle, Crawford, 
Greeley, Sam. Houston, President Reed, McDuffie, 
Charles Thomson, the Websters, and many others ; in 
the army by Generals Crawford, McClellan, Mont- 
gomery, McPherson, Patterson, Scott, Shields, Stuart, 
and Taylor ; in science and invention by Robert Fulton, 
Joseph Henry, McCormick, and Rush ; in literature by 
Poe, James, McHenry, and Mrs. Junkin Preston. But 
it is especially as pillars of the orthodox churches of 
America, and most of all of the Presbyterian Church, 
that they have made a permanent mark : Alison, the 
Alexanders, the Finlays, the Blairs, the Beatties, the 



20 EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION. 

Breckenridges, the Junkins, Craighead, the Macmillans, 
the Nevins, Macwhirter, Mason, Waddell, and others 
without number might be named ; while the two Camp- 
bells (Thomas and Alexander) founded the Church of 
the Disciples in America. Nor have the stock been less 
active and successful in business life, such names as 
John Brown, A. T. Stewart, Thomas Scott, with that 
of Mr. Stuart himself, being among the first that occur 
to me. 

And this, I think, constitutes an especial source of 
interest in the story he has to tell. It is the life of a 
Christian merchant who is at once zealously Christian 
and diligently a man of business. The Kingdom of 
Heaven, our Lord tells us, has its especial use and honor 
for the directness and straightforwardness of the busi- 
ness temperament. Among other comparisons, He says 
that " it is like unto a merchant seeking goodly pearls, 
who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went 
and sold all that he had and bought it." The successful 
business-man is one who has taken the trouble to ascer- 
tain the relative value of things, and who proceeds to 
act on that knowledge without question or hesitation. 
And the Christian of this temper is a man who has 
satisfied himself that his Master's estimate of the value 
of things is the right one, and who proceeds to act on 
that assumption with as little reserve or hesitation as if 
it were a question of the market price of hardwares or 
dry-goods. It is observed by Dr. Paley that the mind 



EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION. 21 

of the Apostle to the Gentiles had this business-like 
quality. The weights and measures of things that he 
had learned on the way to Damascus continued to be 
his standards of action as well as of opinion to the end 
of his wonderful career. "All things but loss for the 
excellency of the knowledge of Christ" sums up his 
lesson in spiritual arithmetic. It was this that made 
him as " instant in season and out of season" as he ex- 
horted Timothy to be. Being about the Master's busi- 
ness, he could waste no time on the conventionalities of 
time and place. So he found himself nowhere more 
thoroughly at home than in Corinth, the great trading 
city of that day, where he gathered the largest (and 
also the most troublesome) of all the churches which 
were the fruit of his labors, — a church whose people were 
in the main in sympathy with his own temper of mind. 

Those of us whose natural disposition or special pur- 
suits make this kind of directness almost impossible to 
us, will none the less honor and value it in those who 
have this complete unreserve, that breaks through all 
conventional crusts, and deals with divine things on the 
principle that their relative worth has been ascertained, 
and that it is the part of simple common sense to act 
upon that knowledge in every kind of social intercourse. 
All who know Mr. Stuart are aware that the story of his 
life, while it brings out this trait of his character, does 
less than justice to it. It has been his joy to testify 
everywhere and to all men of his love for the Saviour, 



22 EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION, 

and that with a frankness and unreserve which mark the 
man who " means business" in his religion as elsewhere. 
Having " found the pearl of great price," he advertises 
the fact to others for their benefit, that they may share 
in his enrichment. 

One point more. To those who have not known 
Mr. Stuart personally there may be some difficulty in 
understanding the kind and degree of influence he has 
exerted at various times over popular assemblies. The 
narrative, indeed, contains sketches of some of his 
speeches, and several of the most important are reprinted 
in the closing pages of the book. These will help the 
reader to some extent, but only partially. Those who 
have not heard him on the platform, listened to the tones 
of his voice, watched his face and his bearing, and felt 
the magnetic touch of his intense earnestness will still 
be puzzled by the record of the actual effect of his 
speeches, just as the readers of Whitefield's sermons are 
puzzled to account for the far more profound impression 
his preaching made on his generation. It was said of 
John P. Durbin, the eloquent Methodist preacher, that 
the largest element in his oratory was Dr. Durbin him- 
self. So in this case: the largest element in every 
speech or address was George H. Stuart himself. For 
this very reason, none but those who have heard him in 
the years of his best powers can form any adequate idea 
of his influence on an audience. 

His oratory was spontaneous and natural, owing little 



EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION. 23 

or nothing to early training of any kind. He was as 
much a self-made speaker as was his friend John B. 
Gough. But like him, he did not at once make an 
impression on the public, when he first appeared on the 
platform. I have been told by those who heard him in 
the years before the great Revival of 1857, that he spoke 
with a hesitation and diffidence which at times brought 
the impression made by his speech below the merits of 
what he had to say. It w r as in the vast public meetings 
of that year that he discovered the capacity he had of 
reaching and holding the most varied audiences. The 
war, with its demands on his time and his powers, de- 
veloped this capacity to a still higher degree, and gave 
an influence which was hardly second to that of the best- 
known public speakers of the land. 

As I myself have learned from him nearly all I know 
about the art of public speaking, I may say that I have 
watched him with attention and to my own profit. The 
first secret of his power is his earnestness, — a fervor not 
unconnected with the Celtic strain in his Scottish blood. 
And this finds expression in a certain vehemence of 
manner, which attests the reality of the feeling. Next 
to this is the perfect simplicity and intelligibilty of the 
terms in which his feeling and thought find expression. 
Every word goes home without the hearer being dis- 
tracted by the friction involved in bringing the speaker's 
thought into line with that of the hearer. And last but 
not least is the fine instinct for the lines on which a sub- 



24 EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION. 

ject must be approached. It is here that the practical 
temper of the business man avails, just as it enabled the 
Apostle to speak to the minds and hearts of men of his 
time with a force of directness not learned in the school 
of Gamaliel but in that of life. 

I have nothing to add but the expression of my feel- 
ing that it is a great honor to have my name associated 
with that of one whom I regard with a veneration never 
impaired by the thirty years and more of our familiar 
intercourse. 

R. E. T. 



THE LIKE 



OF 



GEORGE H. STUART. 



25 




THE 



GEORGE H. STUART. 



CHAPTER I. 



Early Years and School-Days in Ulster — Comes to Philadelphia in 1 83 1 
— Stuart and Brothers — Takes the Temperance Pledge in Pittsburg — 
Welcomes Gough to Philadelphia — Marriage in 1837 — First and Sec- 
ond Visits to Ireland — First Knowledge of John Hall. 

At the earnest request of friends to whose judgment 
I am bound to defer, I give a brief statement of my life 
and of the way in which God has led me, hoping that it 
may be useful especially to the young men of this and 
other lands. 

I was born on Tuesday, April 2, 18 16, in my father's 
new farm-house, called Rose Hall, in County Down, Ire- 
land, situated about half-way between the flourishing 
towns of Banbridge and Guilford, and about twenty 
miles from Belfast. My parents were members of the 
Associate Presbyterian (or Seceder) Church, made famil- 
iar to many readers by Carlyle's reminiscences of his 
father. They had been brought up in County Armagh, 
but shortly before my birth removed to County Down. 
My father's name was David, and my mother's Margaret. 
My father owned and managed a large farm, and, like 
most of the larger farmers of that county, he was exten- 

27 



28 THE LIFE OF GEORGE II STUART. 

sively engaged in the linen and flax business, having a 
mill for " scutching" the flax on his farm. He was a 
remarkable man, one who stood very high in the com- 
munity and who was often consulted upon difficult ques- 
tions by his neighbors. He had a fair education, and by 
virtue of his native talent held a conspicuous place in the 
community. He died January I, 1825, aged fifty-nine. 

My mother was a very earnest, devoted Christian 
woman, who took great pains to train up her children 
in the fear of the Lord. I greatly enjoyed visiting her 
several times after I came to this country, and you can 
have little idea how much it gladdened her heart to see, 
from time to time, her youngest child. After all my 
brothers moved to America, the family home was dis- 
posed of, and my mother spent the remainder of her 
days with one of my elder sisters, Mrs. Margaret Au- 
ghiltree, who lived at Markethill, in County Armagh. In 
her house my mother died, December 1, 1848, at the 
advanced age of seventy-eight ; her remains were taken 
to the family burying-place adjoining the church I at- 
tended as a boy, and which was known as Donacloney 
meeting-house. A monument was erected there to my 
father, mother, and those of the children who died in 
the old farm-house. Since the death of my brothers in 
England, the burial-lot and its railings have been partic- 
ularly looked after by Mr. Beatty, a friend of the family 
living near by. He writes me about every year with 
reference to the condition of the lot. My brothers and 
sisters are now all gone : three of them are buried in 
America, two in England, and the remainder in Ireland. 

Of the thirteen children, I was the youngest. While 
I was still an infant in the nurse's arms, and was going 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART 29 

out to the farm in a cart, along with a. sister two or three 
years older than myself, the horse ran away and Magda- 
len, my sister, was so badly hurt that she soon after died. 
So, at this early age, I narrowly escaped death. I was 
called after my parents' pastor, the venerable and emi- 
nent Rev. George Hay, in whose church my father was 
an elder. Two other elders about the same time had 
sons called after the same pastor. All three were so 
named with the view, on the part of their parents, to 
their becoming ministers of the Gospel. One of them 
died in his preparatory course, and the other — the Rev. 
George Hay Shanks — has been for many years a faithful 
pastor at Bush Mills, in Ireland. My father died before 
I had reached ten years of age, and the fact of his desire 
that I should preach the Gospel made an impression 
upon my mind which I have felt all through life, and 
which has led me to feel an especial interest in those 
who devote themselves to the ministry. Had he lived 
longer, his wish might have been realized. 

When I was very young Mr. Hay died ; and when his 
successor, the Rev. James Morehead, was ordained and 
installed by the presbytery, all the members thereof 
dined at my mother's house, my father being dead and 
my brother James being then an elder. The services 
took place out of doors to accommodate the large crowd 
in attendance, and Mr. Morehead had, seated by his side, 
a twin brother who was also a minister, — Rev. Robert 
Morehead of Garvaghy, — and the resemblance was so 
great that it was remarked at the dinner-table that no 
one was able to tell the difference, when I, a mere lad, 
interrupted the conversation by stating that I knew the 
difference. " Why, George, how do you know that ?" 

3* 



30 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

was the inquiry. " Why, our Mr. Morehead wore shoes 
and his brother boots," I answered. Our new pastor 
was a most earnest and successful man, a worthy suc- 
cessor of Mr. Hay, and was, in after years, one of my 
dearest friends. He called his youngest son (now of 
New Zealand) after me. He intended this son for the 
ministry ; but he gave no evidence of a fitness for this 
calling until, at the grave of his father, he dedicated 
himself to the work of preaching the Gospel, and was 
for many years a successful pastor in Ireland. He now 
is laboring in New Zealand. 

Mr. Morehead and Mr. Hay were men of very different char- 
acter, although both excellent in their way. Mr. Hay was of the 
old and severe Seceder type, and much opposed to innovations 
of all kinds. So long as he lived there was no Sabbath-school in 
Donacloney, as he regarded that as a violation of the Sabbath. 
Neither would he have any collection taken up for foreign mis- 
sions, on the ground that the needs of Ireland were too great to 
permit of sending anything on the foreign field. And these views 
he impressed on the older members of his flock, so that it was 
with fear and trembling that Mr. Morehead obeyed the directions 
of Synod, and announced that on a specified Sabbath a collection 
for foreign missions would be taken. Long after neighboring con- 
gregations had abandoned the practice of " lining out" the Psalms 
before singing them, it was kept up in Donacloney ; and one old 
lady came miles across the country from the neighborhood of her 
own church to attend ours for that reason. 

Mr. Morehead was gentleness and kindness itself, and particu- 
larly anxious to win the confidence of the younger portion of his 
flock, who were terribly afraid of "the minister." The editor of 
this book has the warmest recollections of his goodness, and be- 
lieves that he owes his recovery from a dangerous illness to his 
medical knowledge and watchfulness supplementing the igno- 
rance and carelessness of a drunken country doctor. 

Donacloney meeting-house was and is a stone structure in a 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 3 1 

style of rude Gothic, with the steps to the gallery going up out- 
side the building over the middle door. The high pulpit stood on 
the side of the audience -room, with an old-fashioned sounding- 
board over it. Just outside the window next our pew stood the 
monument to Mr. and Mrs. Stuart and their deceased children, 
and it was one of the relaxations allowed to youthful weariness 
of long sermons and " lectures," to stand on the pew-seat and 
look out at it. — Ed. _ 



I began to attend school while quite young, the school 
being close by the farm and next door to the Catholic 
Chapel, the teacher being a Catholic and — like nearly all 
the Irish schoolmasters of that day — a very severe man, 
whipping us unmercifully. I was full of fun and frolic, 
and probably no boy ever paid less attention to his 
studies. This school I attended until I was about 
twelve years of age, when I removed to a school of a 
much higher grade in the town of Banbridge. Here I 
remained until at the age ©f fifteen I came to America. 
Owing to my predisposition for sport, my fondness for 
hunting, swimming, etc., my education was not what it 
otherwise might have been. I have often since regretted 
that I had not paid more attention to it. The first 
school that I attended was famed for its attention to 
penmanship, premiums being offered for excellence in 
this direction. The other school was of a higher order, 
and gave more attention to grammar, history, and arith- 
metic, being mainly made up of pupils from the lower 
schools. All through life I have sadly felt the effect of 
not paying more attention to my opportunities of educa- 
tion. What I have picked up has been through coming 
into contact with men of culture and education. 

Our coming to Philadelphia was due in part to the fact 



32 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

that my father's only brother, James Stuart, had settled 
there about 1790, when it was the seat of the national 
government and the chief city of the country. He sent 
my father a copy of the Philadelphia Directory of 1794, 
now very rare, which I found among his books at Rose- 
hall and still preserve. On page 161 it announces that 
George Washington was living at 190 High Street. Some 
years before my father's death — about 1820, I think — my 
oldest sister, Anne Jane, followed my uncle to Philadel- 
phia to take care of him. She was soon after married to 
Mr. Willliam H. Scott, a native of the county Monaghan, 
who was in business in this city. She was joined a few 
years later by my brother John, who was for a short time 
in partnership with Mr. Scott. Shortly after my father's 
death, in 1825, my brothers David and Joseph also came 
to Philadelphia; and in 1828, on the 12th of February, 
these three brothers founded the firm of Stuart and 
Brothers, which became one of the largest importing 
houses in the country, with branch houses in New York 
and Manchester, and afterwards in Liverpool. It con- 
tinued until 1879, when it went into liquidation. 

During my boyhood in Ulster, these brothers made 
several visits to our home. Thus, John, in 1826, came 
back to Ireland and married Miss Sarah Waugh. My 
brother Joseph, who visited us in 1827 along with John, 
afterwards married Miss Anna Watson, of Lurgan. My 
brother David married Miss Jane McClelland, of Ban- 
bridge, — all three wives being of families near the old 
homestead ; while my brother James married Miss Eliza- 
beth Whitewright, of New York, now the only survivor of 
the four good and faithful wives, but a confirmed invalid. 

Two of my brothers, William and David, were ship- 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. . 33 

wrecked coming home from America for the first time, 
and barely escaped with their lives by swimming from 
the wrecked vessel to the shore of Fayal, one of the 
Azores Islands, where they were obliged to stay for 
some time before they could obtain a vessel to carry 
them to England. When they did get passage on a 
small schooner, they were fired upon by the government 
authorities for leaving the port in violation of some re- 
striction. Had the schooner been fired upon a few 
minutes sooner, she would have been sunk, as the ball 
almost grazed the vessel. We had heard at our home in 
Ireland of the shipwreck, by a passenger who was taken 
off the wreck by a passing vessel and carried to Savan- 
nah, whence the news reached us by way of New York, 
so that some time before my brothers turned up at our 
home in Ireland, they had been given up as lost. Young 
as I was, I can never forget the joy that filled all our 
hearts when suddenly the two brothers entered the old 
homestead. 

In 1 83 1 Mr. William H. Scott, who had married 
my oldest sister, came from Philadelphia to our home 
in Ireland, and prevailed upon my mother and my 
older brothers and sisters to let him take an older sister 
(named Sarah) and myself back to Philadelphia with 
him. We sailed from Warrenpoint for Liverpool, June 
29, and from Liverpool July 2. On leaving home I had 
a trunk carefully packed with a full supply of clothing, 
and in it I myself had placed a good many mementos of 
my boyish days, — balls and the like, with which I had 
amused myself at school. Judge, then, of my feelings 
when, as my trunk was being hoisted on board the ves- 
sel at Liverpool, the tackle broke, the trunk was caught 



34 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

between the tossing ship and the dock and crushed, and 
my most cherished treasures went to the bottom, causing 
me a boyish regret which I have never forgotten. I, of 
course, had to go ashore and procure a new trunk and a 
fresh supply of clothing for the voyage. 

At Liverpool we were met by my brother David, and, 
after a passage of sixty-one days, the good ship Tus- 
carora (Captain Chaney) landed us safely in Philadelphia 
on the first of September.* My older brother and sister 
who had preceded me being both married and occupying 
their own houses, I found a comfortable home between 
them. 

Philadelphia when I first saw it was a much smaller 
place than it now is, although it still was the chief city 
of the Union. It stretched along the Delaware front 
from Richmond to Southwark, without extending west- 
ward any further than Broad Street, and reaching that 
in very few places. Stephen Girard was still alive, and I 
saw him once on the street, but he died the day after 
Christmas in that very year. Instead of one city govern- 
ment, there were several cities within what now is Phila- 
delphia, and my own first home after my marriage was 
in the City of Spring Garden, on Marshall Street above 

* It must be just thirty years since the editor read a letter in one of our 
Philadelphia newspapers, written by a gentleman who made this voyage 
with Mr. George II. Stuart, in which he described the lively and irre- 
pressible boy on his way to a new life in a new world. Among the com- 
pensations for his sad loss at the Liverpool wharf was a new pocket-knife, 
and it was with some difficulty that he restrained his inclination to use it 
on some part of the ship. Colonel Crockett's saying, " Be sure you're 
right, then go ahead |" was new in those days, and Mr. Stuart expressed 
his great admiration for it, declaring he meant to take it as his motto 
for life. — Ed. 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE II. STUART. 35 

Green. The New York of that day presented the same 
contrast to the city of to-day. Canal Street was about 
the northern limit of the built-up portion, and I re- 
member that when I inquired for the residence of Dr. 
Gardiner Spring, in 1847, to procure his attendance at 
the death-bed of my cousin, Mr. David Gibson, I was 
told he lived far away to the north of the city, which 
now extends for miles without a break beyond what was 
then his place of residence. 

The next month after my arrival in Philadelphia, I 
went with my brother John to New York, where we 
established a branch of our, house of Stuart & Brothers, 
under the name of J. & J. Stuart & Co. After many 
years of connection with the mother house in Philadel- 
phia this firm commenced a banking business, which 
is continued to this day by my nephews Joseph and 
Robert W. Stuart. Our house also had a branch house 
in Manchester, called John Stuart & Co., which also is 
continued as a banking house by my nephew James C. 
Stuart, and other partners. After the withdrawal of the 
New York and Manchester branch houses from the dry- 
goods business, a branch house was opened in Liverpool 
by my brother David, under the name of David Stuart 
& Co. This is now conducted by his sons Andrew and 
George H. Stuart as a commission and shipping firm. 
I was admitted as a junior partner into the firm of Stuart 
& Brothers on New Year's Day in 1837, a f ter spending 
six years in its service in travelling and otherwise ; and 
into the New York firm in 1840.* 

* Stuart & Brothers commenced business in a small store one door from 
the southwest corner of Fourth and Arch Streets, on the old College of 



36 THE LIFE OF GEORGE II STUART. 

In 1836, while still a clerk in the house of Stuart & 
Brothers, I went out west for the house, to increase its 
business, and was accompanied by two friends. We had 
expected to reach Pittsburg by the canal-boat on Sat- 
urday night, but, to our astonishment and sorrow, we 
found that the boat would not reach there before mid- 
day on the Sabbath. With my early education I could 
not consent to travel on the Sabbath, and, with a few 
others who felt as I did, I left the boat about ten o'clock 
at night at a small town, where we found that the Pres- 
byterian pastor had gone to Pittsburg to attend the 
General Assembly. We had in our little company of 
Sabbath-keepers, among other excellent men, an agent 
of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign 
Missions, who occupied the Presbyterian pulpit with 
great acceptance. During our sojourn at a hotel in 
Pittsburg we three travelling companions, according to 
universal custom in those days, had our bottle of wine 
at the dinner-table. Having no better way to spend my 
evening, I wended my way with my companions to Dr. 
Riddle's Presbyterian Church, where there was a tem- 
perance meeting addressed by several eminent ministers 
of the Assembly then in session. We occupied a seat in 

Philadelphia property. The firm next moved to a store on Fourth Street 
one door south of Market, then to Number 6 Commerce Street, then to 
Numbers 6 and 8 Church Alley. Finally it bought a part of the old burying- 
ground of the First Presbyterian Church, and, after the dead had been 
removed, built a large warehouse on it. This extended from Bank to 
Strawberry Streets, which run from Market to Chestnut, below Third 
Street. The store was known as Number 1 3 Bank Street, with Numbers 
14 to 18 Strawberry Street as the rear. The deed in my name shows but 
one intervening owner between myself and William Penn, the founder 
of the State and city. 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 37 

the gallery, and one of the speakers, named Cleveland, 
held up a glass of wine and pointed out with remarkable 
clearness the nature of its contents and the result of its 
frequent use. It was then and there, in my seat at the 
conclusion of this address, that I determined, without 
joining any temperance society, to abstain thereafter 
from the use of wine as a beverage, which by the grace 
of God I have been able to do to this day. At our 
dinner-table next day the younger of my companions 
said to me, " Why, George, did you allow that speech 
last night to prevent you from taking your glass of wine 
as usual ?" " Yes," I said, " I have drunk my last social 
glass of wine." My older friend and cousin, David 
Gibson, said, " If I were as young as you I would do the 
same." The young man who ridiculed me soon after 
inherited a large fortune ; but the last I heard of him he 
was reeling through the streets with his heels out of his 
boots, a miserable, low drunkard. The older died, many 
years after, a happy and triumphant death : it was my 
privilege to minister to him in his last hours. 

From that to the present hour I have taken a great 
interest in the cause of temperance, and in its many 
advocates, as I have met them from time to time. It 
was eight years later, in 1844, that I was privileged to 
welcome to Philadelphia Mr. John B. Gough on his first 
visit as a public speaker in this behalf. I engaged him 
to deliver an address in our church on Eleventh Street. 
He was stopping at Ninth and Arch, and I brought him 
in my carriage to the church, as he was feeling quite in- 
disposed, and even expressed a doubt as to being able to 
speak. In view of this I also had engaged Dr. Durbin, 
the eloquent Methodist minister, to address the meeting. 

4 



38 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H STUART 

Dr. Durbin did speak, with all his usual fervor, but Mr. 
Gough's address, which followed his, made the profound- 
est impression. In the audience was a gentleman, already 
a man of wealth, who afterwards became one of the lead- 
ing merchants of Philadelphia. He had just been stock- 
ing his wine-cellar, but curiosity had brought him to the 
meeting. After hearing Mr. Gough he went home and 
poured out the contents of the bottles, and from that 
day there was not a drop of any intoxicant drunk in 
his house. Not only so, but he became an eminent sup- 
porter of the temperance cause. 

During a visit to Scotland after I had formed my 
total-abstinence resolution, one of Scotland's most emi- 
nent ministers of that day invited a number of conspic- 
uous men to meet me at dinner at his house. As was 
the custom at that time, even in the families of our best 
ministers, wine was on the table ; and my host, in the 
course of the dinner, told the gentlemen to fill their 
glasses, as he wished to propose my health. They all 
filled their glasses ; and, at that moment, I said to the 
social company gathered around the table of this emi- 
nent divine, that in America the challenged party always 
had the privilege of choosing his own weapons, and that 
I would therefore take the liberty of filling my glass with 
water. The result of this was that the wineglasses re- 
mained untouched and my health was drunk in pure, 
cold water. I had entirely forgotten this occurrence 
until a few years ago when a minister used the incident 
as a temperance illustration in his sermon. While walk- 
ing home with one of the elders he spoke of this illus- 
tration favorably. I expressed my wonder as to the 
truth of the story, and my interest to know who the 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 39 

person was that took such a stand for temperance. 
" Why," said he, " it was yourself," as he had heard me 
relate the story many years before. Like many other 
incidents of my life, it had passed from my mind when 
it was thus unexpectedly brought to my attention. 

On May 11, 1837, — the day that the banks suspended 
payment, and a day of great financial gloom,* — I was 
united in marriage to Miss Martha Kyle Denison, who 
was a native of Philadelphia and a member of the same 
church as myself. We have had nine children, three of 
whom were removed in infancy or early life to the better 
land ; and a fourth, my oldest son, William David, died 
four months after his marriage, on the 7th of April, 1863, 
at my home in Philadelphia, in his twenty-third year. 

In 1840, as a member of the firm of Stuart & Brothers, 
I made my first voyage to Europe for the purchase of 
goods in connection with our branch house in Manches- 
ter, England. It was in the early days of steam naviga- 
tion, and I was a passenger on board of the new steamer 
British Quee?t y Captain Roberts, who afterwards was com- 
mander of her sister ship the President. This steamer 
was lost, with a number of passengers, including Rev. 
Dr. Alfred Cookman. Soon after leaving New York we 
encountered a violent hurricane, which arose so suddenly 
that a row-boat from the pilot-boat, which came to take 
off our pilot and the friends of some passengers who had 
accompanied them down the bay, was upset. I was sit- 

* I may mention in this connection that it was my brother-in-law, the 
late John Rumsey, who made the final adjustment of the accounts of the 
Second United States Bank (Nicholas Biddle's) after its failure in 1841. 
With his widow, and in the house in which he closed his life, I have 
found a home since 1879. 



40 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

ting at the dinner-table next to Captain Roberts when he 
heard the first mate's cry from the quarter-deck, " Stop 
her !" repeated with a loud voice. I followed the cap- 
tain closely on deck, he being evidently alarmed at the 
cry, which was not " half-speed/' but " stop her" repeated 
with emphasis. When the captain reached the deck and 
asked the cause of this unusual order, the mate, unable to 
give an answer, pointed over the starboard quarter to six 
men struggling against the waves. The captain, without 
waiting to ask how they came there, cried out, with a loud 
voice, " Lower away the life-boat ! Lower away the life- 
boat !" and then, with the same loud voice, " Volunteers 
wanted to man the life-boat." Eight men with an officer 
were required, but thirty-two responded to the call, and 
soon the life-boat was manned and on its way to the 
relief of the drowning men, who had almost disappeared 
from sight. During this never-to-be-forgotten scene I 
stood side by side with Dr. Eastburn of New York, after- 
wards Bishop of Massachusetts, in silent prayer for the 
safety of the men who were struggling with the waves 
and of our boat's crew who had gone to their assistance. 
We soon discovered that four men had been rescued and 
taken into the boat, when she headed for the steamer, 
with two men evidently lost. As the life-boat neared 
the side of the vessel these four men were lying almost 
helpless on the bottom of the boat. Unknown to us an 
old man stood near the railing so as to get a glimpse of 
the faces of those who had been saved, and you may 
judge of his horror when he discovered that his own 
son was among the lost. 

We took up a subscription, which amounted to quite 
a handsome sum, for the noble sailors who had freely 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H STUART 41 

risked their own lives to save the drowning men, and 
the money collected was presented to them in a very 
appropriate address by Dr. Eastburn. 

We arrived at Southampton after a voyage of about 
fourteen days, which was an ordinary passage at that 
time. I went directly to London, this being my first 
visit to that great capital of the world. As I expected 
to return to London, I made but a hurried visit at that 
time, and passed on to the residence of my brother John, 
in Manchester. Here I had a happy social reunion with 
the family. I spent my first few days in purchasing goods 
for the New York and Philadelphia houses. I was led 
unexpectedly to purchase thirty cases of black alpacas, 
which I had never seen before or heard of. This was 
through the persistence of a salesman who said they 
were just the thing that the ladies of America wanted. 
I sent twenty cases to Philadelphia and ten to New 
York. The New York house advised the Manchester 
house, protesting against my purchasing goods I knew 
nothing about ; but afterwards the goods sold so rapidly 
and at such a large profit that they sent orders for more 
and imported largely for several years. 

Soon after, I proceeded to Ireland, where I found the 
old home at Rosehall closed and in other hands, while 
my aged mother was living with my elder sister in Mar- 
kethill, in County Armagh, with many other relatives 
and friends in the immediate neighborhood. 

In February, 1844, I had my first visit from spasmodic 
asthma. It came on in the night, without any kind of 
warning, and until I obtained medical advice the next 
morning I did not even know what was the matter. 
From that time to this it has been almost a constant 



42 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

visitor, and very much of the time that ought to have 
been given to sleep has been spent in battling for breath, 
often in an upright position because no other was en- 
durable. I have tried all remedies, regular and irreg- 
ular, and employed leading physicians of France and 
England, as well as of America. At one time, by advice 
of Dr. Da Costa, I placed myself under the care of the 
Queers physician in London, who was thought to pos- 
sess unusual skill in treating asthma. But nothing has 
brought me more than temporary alleviations of the dis- 
ease. I even obtained and mastered all the treatises on 
the subject, so that asthma is the one subject on which I 
may claim to be a man of learning as well as of experi- 
ence. 

I made a second visit to Ireland in 1844, and visited 
one of my cousins — Mrs. Hall — with whom I spent two 
or three of the happiest hours of my life. It was then 
for the first time that I heard of, and became deeply in- 
terested in, her son John. It was the communion week 
in the old Presbyterian church to which they belonged. 
She was regretting the absence of her eldest son, who 
was then a student at Belfast ; but she read me a most 
touching letter from him, greatly regretting his absence, 
but giving her warm words of consolation and love. 
This led me to feel a deep interest in the young man, 
especially as he was intended for the ministry, and this 
interest continued to increase and deepen up to the pres- 
ent moment. After his licensure, this son went as a mis- 
sionary to the west of Ireland, where he was wonderfully 
blessed in leading souls to Christ. In 1852 one of the 
most important Presbyterian pulpits in the city of Ar- 
magh became vacant, and the officers of the church 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 43 

found it hard to fill the place. The professors in Bel- 
fast, one of whom had been pastor of the congrega- 
tion very recently, were asked by the elders to recom- 
mend some one to fill the vacancy; when they with 
one accord directed their attention to young John Hall, 
then laboring as a missionary in the west of Ireland. 
He felt reluctant to take charge of a church so cen- 
tral and important, but finally yielded. This was his 
first pastorate, and the high expectations of the profes- 
sors and the parish were more than realized. Almost 
from the first he preached to crowded houses, both in 
his own church, and whenever he was announced in any 
parish in its neighborhood. Of his subsequent career in 
Dublin and his coming to New York, I shall speak far- 
ther on. 

It was the editor's privilege and profit to have begun to hear 
John Hall as a preacher some thirty-five years ago, and he hopes 
never to lose the impressions of the reality and power of godli- 
ness which he then received. Thus early in his ministry Dr. 
Hall showed very much the same elements of pulpit power as 
now. He never abounded in novelty of ideas or suggestions, but 
he made the great commonplaces of spiritual life and duty won- 
derfully alive. And then, as now, his sermons gathered force as 
they proceeded, until at the application you felt humbled and yet 
uplifted in a way that went with you for weeks afterwards. It was 
like Gough's story of how he could not get Arnot's text " Fegs of 
thustles" out of his head for the whole week following. 

It has been said of some Irishmen that they never flourish until 
they are transplanted. This was not the case with John Hall. 
Ireland was proud of him, recognizing in him one of her most dis- 
tinguished sons. Wherever he went all denominations thronged 
to hear him speak, and, although his Protestantism always was 
most pronounced, I have seen the priest listening at the door, 
while the rector of the parish was inside in a pew. — Ed. 



CHAPTER II. 

Church Relations in Philadelphia — Division of the Covenanters in 1833 
— Anecdote of Edwin M. Stanton — Church Membership — The two 
Drs. Wylie — A Sabbath-School Teacher — Promoted to Superinten- 
dency — Interest in Foreign Missions — The Story of James M. Camp- 
bell — "The Banner of the Covenant" — Interest in the Anti-Slavery 
Movement — The Armistad Negroes in Philadelphia. 

My brother John was a member of the Associate Pres- 
byterian church (on Walnut Street below Fifth, the site 
now occupied by the Schuylkill Navigation Company), 
of which Dr. Thomas Beveridge was the pastor ; while 
my sister, Mrs. Scott, belonged to the Reformed Presby- 
terian church, of which Dr. Samuel B. Wylie was pastor. 
The latter church was on Eleventh Street near Market, 
and here I became an attendant on church and Sabbath- 
school. In August, 1834, I became a teacher in the 
school. At the annual meeting of the Sabbath-School 
Association, a teacher — who afterwards became the 
founder of our mission work in India, Mr. James R. 
Campbell — moved that I be appointed to examine and 
report on the condition of the library. This was my 
first appointment to any position, civil or religious, and 
I felt it to be a very great honor. My duty was simply 
to see that the books in the library corresponded with 
the librarian's list. 

In 1832, when General Jackson was a candidate for the 

Presidency a second time, Dr. Wylie and several other 

ministers of our church, who took a great interest in the 

political issues of that day, were led to vote for or against 

44 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 45 

his re-election, although up to that time American Cov- 
enanters had not taken the oath of allegiance to the 
Constitution or exercised the right of suffrage. When 
charged with inconsistency in the matter, Dr. Wylie re- 
plied, " Wise men change their minds sometimes, fools 
never." The strict conservatives of the church found 
fault with the conduct of these clerical brethren, and this 
resulted in a division of the body into Old and New Side 
Covenanters. I was present at the meeting of Synod in 
1833, a ^ which this occurred. Dr. Crawford, one of the 
suspended ministers, was the retiring moderator, and in- 
sisted on preaching the annual sermon in that capacity. 
The other party insisted that he had been suspended by 
a subordinate court for voting, and therefore the duty 
of preaching had devolved on his " alternate." As Dr. 
Wylie and his friends would not yield the point, Dr. 
James R. Willson, of Albany, rose and called upon all 
those who adhered to the testimony of the church to 
follow him. Thereupon a considerable number of min- 
isters and elders did withdraw, and organized the Synod 
in the Cherry Street Church (which had been organized 
of persons dismissed from ours), claiming to be the true 
Reformed Presbyterian Church. Thus since 1833 there 
have been two (and latterly, by a secession of a little 
band of the strictest, even three) churches of this name 
in the United States, and the Covenanters of Ireland and 
Scotland have been similarly divided. But even the Old 
Side Covenanter Church, whose representatives withdrew 
in 1833 from our own, have been somewhat liberalized 
by the lapse of years. They have given up " lining" the 
Psalms and proclaiming the banns before a marriage; 
and, although the rule against " occasional hearing" is 



46 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

still nominally a part of the law of their church, yet since 
1859, when the young people of their churches in Phil- 
adelphia insisted on coming to our own to hear Mr. 
Guiness, in spite of being brought before the session for 
that offence, it is understood to have become a dead 
letter. 

As is usual after such divisions, there was a suit for 
church property, the First Church of Pittsburg being 
taken as a test case. Dr. Black's people employed a 
young and rising lawyer to defend their rights against 
our seceding brethren, and he requested to be furnished 
with all the books at hand which bore upon the history 
of the church and its doctrines. He was supplied with 
a small library on the subject, and he made such good 
use of them that, when he had opened the case for the 
defence, the judge remarked, " I did not know you were 
a Covenanter/' " I did not know, your honor," was his 
reply, "that there was such a body now in existence 
until I got my retaining fee. I am an Episcopalian." 
He won the case. 

That lawyer was Edwin M. Stanton, who had recently 
removed to Pittsburg, after practising law some ten years 
at Steubenville without much success. This was his 
first important case in Pittsburg, and was the first step- 
ping-stone in his rapid rise to the leadership of the bar 
of that city. When he became Secretary of War in Mr. 
Lincoln's Cabinet, he understood the difficulty about the 
oath of allegiance to the Constitution, which would have 
kept the Old Side Covenanters from serving in the army, 
although their sympathies were strongly with the gov- 
ernment and against the slaveholders' rebellion. Hence 
he devised for them a declaration of general loyalty to 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE II. STUART. 47 

the government, so that they were enabled to enter the 
army without swearing to support the Constitution, 
which they regard as an atheistic document. 

One of the books furnished to Mr. Stanton as of great 
importance for the defence was a volume of sermons 
preached by Dr. Alexander McLeod, of New York, dur- 
ing the War of 1812-15, in vindication of the lawfulness 
and righteousness of defensive war generally, and of that 
war in particular. Secretary Stanton told a minister of 
the Reformed Presbyterian Church that he had read 
those sermons through again once every year while the 
War for the Union lasted. 

Soon after this division of 1833, while I was walking 
down, the aisle at the close of the services, w r hen one of 
our semi-annual communions was approaching, a ven- 
erable elder, the late Robert Orr, put his hand on my 
shoulder and said, " George, is it not time that you were 
joining the church ?" This led to my thinking and pray- 
ing over the matter, and finally giving my heart to Christ, 
and joining the church. I made a profession of religion 
at the communion on the 24th of April, 1835, in my 
nineteenth year. From time to time in this church I 
held nearly every office in its gift ; and on the 7th of 
August, 1842, I was ordained a ruling elder. This office 
I still hold, and am the only member of the session still 
alive, of those who belonged to it when I was elected. 
It was in the year after I became a member of session 
that the present pastor first occupied his father's pulpit 
in the old church on Eleventh Street, and I well re- 
member the remark I made to Mr. Thomas Mac Adam, 
another member of the session. Putting my hand on 
his shoulder, I said, " Our difficulties are at an end." 



48 THE LIFE OF GEORGE II STUART. 

For years we had been looking for some one to assist 
Dr. S. B. Wylie in his declining years, and to take his 
place when he was gone. Dr. T. W. J. Wylie had been 
a pupil in our Sabbath-school when I was a teacher, and 
I had watched his course with interest. He now was a 
licentiate, having completed his course in the University 
and the Theological Seminary, and had just returned 
from a tour among our vacant churches in the South 
and West. Soon after I brought up the question in 
session, and found that the principal objection was the 
want of means to support an assistant pastor. I said, 
" Call him with a salary of $600, and I will be respon- 
sible for that amount until the congregation is able to 
pay it." So he was called, accepted the call, and was 
ordained on the 26th of October, 1843 ; and his history, 
since his father's death in 1852 left him in charge of this 
large congregation, more than confirms the estimate I 
then expressed of him. 

The First Reformed Presbyterian Church, now the Wylie Me- 
morial Presbyterian Church, was organized January 28, 1798, in a 
room twelve feet square in the second story of the house of 
Thomas Thomson, at Penn and South Streets. The room also 
contained a bed and a stove, but had space enough for the little 
congregation. Six years later Rev. Samuel B. Wylie became the 
first pastor, and continued in that office for forty-six years, being 
succeeded by his son, the present pastor. The first house of wor- 
ship was erected on St. Mary Street, and the second, on Eleventh 
Street, was erected in 18 18. This served until 1854, when the 
present house was erected on Broad Street below Spruce, a build- 
ing dear to many for the great reunions which have been held 
there, especially the Presbyterian Reunion Convention of 1867, 
and to many others as their spiritual home. Dr. Robert Patter- 
son once estimated that there were twenty-four hundred members 
of the Presbyterian churches of Philadelphia who had at one time 




WYLIE MEMORIAL CHURCH, 
Broad Street, Philadelphia. 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 49 

belonged to this congregation, and that it was represented in a ma- 
jority of their sessions. And although the church has had but two 
pastors in the course of its long existence, it has sent out some 
forty preachers of the Gospel in that time, several of them to the 
mission field. This has been due very largely to the influence of its 
two pastors and of Mr. Stuart, who have sought to make it a seed- 
plot for the training of young ministers, the latter administering 
his offices of Sabbath-school superintendent and elder with espe- 
cial reference to this, and gladly assisting from his own purse 
those whose lack of means stood in the way of their getting the 
necessary preparation. 

Dr. Samuel Brown Wylie, the first pastor of the church, was a 
native of County Antrim, having been born near Ballymena. He 
came to this country in 1797, as he had become obnoxious to the 
Irish government through his being one of the United Irishmen. 
He started a school in Philadelphia, and afterwards, with his 
cousin, Dr. James Black, of Pittsburg, was appointed a tutor in 
the University. He was ordained to the ministry at Ryegate, 
Vermont, in 1804, this being the first Covenanter ordination in 
America. In 1804 he accepted a call to the congregations in 
Philadelphia and Baltimore jointly, and was installed their pas- 
tor. The latter he resigned after a few years ; the former he 
retained until his death, in 1852. He added to his pastoral duties 
those of a laborious and most successful school-master, but in 
1828 he gave up his school to become professor of the Greek and 
Latin languages in the University of Pennsylvania, a chair which 
he retained until 1845, when he became professor emeritus. He 
also was vice-provost from 1834 till the same year. 

He was a man of very wide learning, especially in the Oriental 
languages, and published a Hebrew grammar as well as one of 
Greek. It is said that on one occasion our national government 
received a letter written in the crabbed character used by the Ar- 
menian nation, and that it made the round of the leading colleges 
without finding any one who could decipher it, or even say in 
what language it was written, until it came to Dr. Wylie, who 
read it with ease. In his personal character he combined great 
kindness with great decision. Many stories are current of his 
wonderful generosity, especially to the people of his native land, 
c d 5 



50 THE LIFE. OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

And the invariable enthusiasm with which his pupils in school 
and university speak of him show him to have been a man of 
extraordinary reach of personal influence for good. It was the 
editor's good fortune, although he came too late to this country to 
have known the first Dr. Wylie, to have for years as a Sabbath- 
school teacher a good man who was full of his sayings, and could 
quote something of his about almost every part of the Bible. 
From this it may be inferred what was the impression he had 
made upon his people. — Ed. 



My activity in church matters was directed very largely 
to the Sabbath-school work within the congregation, and 
to that of foreign missions in the denomination at large. 

In Ireland, when I was a youth, we had no Sabbath- 
school connected with our church, but soon after my 
arrival in Philadelphia I was led to connect myself with 
the Sabbath-school of Dr. Wylie's church as a teacher 
when very young ; although I felt then and feel more 
keenly now that I was ill fitted for such a position. I 
was assigned a class in the gallery of the church in the 
front pew, and had some six or seven boys. My atten- 
tion was particularly turned to one of these boys who, 
like myself, was born in Ireland. My interest in this lad 
continued all the time I had charge of the class ; and I 
am thankful to say that this boy was led to enter the 
ministry, and is now living in his first charge, and is one 
of the oldest and most successful pastors in the city. 
His church when he was settled over it was connected 
with the Reformed Presbyterian Synod, but, after my 
suspension, he and it adhered to the Philadelphia Re- 
formed Presbytery, which had " suspended relations" to 
Synod. Their rights were vindicated by our Supreme 
Court against a seceding minority ; and both pastor and 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 5 1 

congregation are now connected with the General As- 
sembly of the Presbyterian Church. My old Sabbath- 
school pupil, the Rev. William Sterret, D.D., is still at 
his post, and the church is now called the Church of the 
Covenant. 

After holding the offices of secretary and treasurer, 
besides that of teacher, in the Sabbath-school, I was 
elected superintendent of the school, which position I 
accepted reluctantly, because of my sense of a want of 
ability to discharge satisfactorily the duties of the posi- 
tion. I continued, however, in this position for some 
twenty-five years, — that is, until called from it by my 
duties in connection with the late war. The school grew 
under my care from about a hundred until its member- 
ship was over five hundred. At one time I had the 
privilege of sitting down at the communion-table with 
fifty-one of its pupils at their first communion ; and a 
communion season hardly ever passed without some of 
my scholars uniting with the church. I was very par- 
ticular in securing godly teachers, both male and female, 
requiring in all who taught in the school what I called 
the six p's which would lead up to a seventh. These 
six p's were, first, piety ; second, preparation ; third, 
punctuality (I was never once in all these twenty-five 
years a minute late); fourth, patience; fifth, persever- 
ance; crowning these with, sixth, prayer. In the end 
the seventh p, promotion, would come, though this was 
not to be sought. 

While acting as superintendent I tried to direct the 
attention of promising boys to the work of the ministry, 
and had the privilege of seeing a great many of my boys 
become ministers of the Gospel. I may here add that 



52 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

from this school there have gone forth forty-two minis- 
ters of Christ, — not all, however, during my superinten- 
dency. 

On the subject of sending the Gospel to the heathen I 
became deeply interested while still in my teens, mainly 
because a young Irishman connected with the Sabbath- 
school of our church gave himself to this work. He 
had been converted in another church, while acting as a 
coachman for one of our leading merchants. While he 
occupied this position he was told by his employer, after 
a very wet, disagreeable Saturday, to wash the carriage 
Sunday morning, that his mistress might take a drive 
for pleasure. On his saying that he could not get the 
carriage ready for a drive, but would get it ready for 
church, his master said that he no longer had use for 
his services after Monday morning. When the master 
mentioned to his wife the fact of James's refusal to wash 
the carriage, telling her that he was to be discharged 
the next morning, she replied that, as James was a faith- 
ful coachman, they ought to respect his conscientious 
scruples about the observance of the Sabbath. On the 
following morning the master asked him if he had ever 
received any education, and if he was able to write. On 
hearing that he had, he asked for a specimen of his 
writing, on seeing which he remarked that he had 
mistaken his calling, and offered him a position in his 
counting-room. Here he ultimately became the head 
book-keeper of the firm, carrying the keys of the fire- 
proof, with its large and valuable contents. The last 
time that I saw James in this counting-room he was 
reading a book, and, as he shut it and placed it in a 
drawer of the desk, my curiosity was aroused to know 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART 53 

what book was engaging his attention at that hour of 
the day. To my surprise, I found that this poor Irish 
boy, who had been once a coachman, had got as far as 
the study of the Greek Testament, with a view, as he 
told me,, of becoming a minister of the Gospel. Soon 
after this the house where he had been employed retired 
from business, and, under the direction of our venerable 
pastor, the late Dr. Wylie, then professor of Greek and 
Latin in the University of Pennsylvania, James was pre- 
pared to enter the Seminary, from which he graduated 
and was licensed to preach the Gospel. 

At that time our little denomination had several im- 
portant vacancies which were calling for pastors : but, 
to the surprise of the Presbytery, James said that he 
wished to go to India, as there was more need of him 
there than in the vacant congregations. At this time 
our church had no missionary board, nor had the subject 
of foreign missions engaged the attention of our church 
to any extent. James offered himself as a missionary 
to the Western Foreign Missionary Society, of which 
the late Walter Lowry was secretary, and which, after 
the division of the Presbyterian Church in 1837, was 
removed to New York, and adopted as the Board of 
Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church. This 
Western Missionary Society declined to send James to 
the foreign field, for some technical reason, possibly 
because its constitution restricted it to the support of 
missionaries of the Presbyterian Church. Afterwards he 
secured the support of an organization called the Mercer 
County Missionary Society, composed of members of 
the Associate, the Associate Reformed, and the Re- 
formed Presbyterian Churches, who agreed to sustain 

5* 



54 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H STUART. 

him on the foreign field. Under this agreement he went 
to India in 1835 as a missionary of the Western Foreign 
Missionary Society, as this society agreed to send him 
after his support had been provided by the Mercer 
County Society. Although sailing under these auspices, 
the Rev. James R. Campbell went out to India as the 
first representative of the Reformed Presbyterian Church 
of the United States in that country. 

On the arrival of Mr. Campbell, and while in Calcutta, 
he met the present eminent secretary of the Presbyterian 
Board in New York, the Rev. Dr. Lowry, who was the 
first missionary to India from the Presbyterian Church 
in the United States, and who, after a short residence 
there, was obliged by failing health to return to America. 
Since his return Dr. Lowry has done more than almost 
any other man, as the senior secretary of the Presby- 
terian Board of Foreign Missions, to awaken an interest 
in the cause to which he had devoted the early years of 
his life. Mr. Campbell, after weeks of weary travel up 
the Ganges, finally selected a site for a mission, and 
settled at Saharanpur, which is now one of the leading 
stations of the Presbyterian Church in India. There, dur- 
ing one of the great famines, he founded an orphan school, 
which has continued to this day. Into that school he 
gathered fifty-four poor orphan boys, most of whom had 
been left in the jungles to perish with hunger. On his 
writing home these facts, I was largely instrumental in 
securing individuals to support and educate many of the 
boys. Mr. Campbell in several cases gave these boys 
the names of their American benefactors, and some of 
them are now native preachers of the Gospel. One of 
them was named after myself, and, in writing me, he 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 55 

signs himself in full George H. Stuart and addresses me 
as his father. He has been for many years located at an 
important station called Jagadhere, with no other person 
in charge but himself. He is. married, and has called 
several of his children after members of my family. I 
have in my possession a photograph of him and his 
family, and, so far as I have been able to ascertain, he is 
a faithful and successful native preacher of the Gospel of 
Christ. 

Mr. Campbell returned to this country in 1848, and 
took back with him the Rev. John S. Woodside, who is 
still in India and has proved himself a most efficient 
missionary of the cross. Through the influence of Dr. 
Campbell, ten missionaries went out from our Sabbath- 
school to aid him in planting the Gospel in that distant 
field, while two others have gone from the same school 
to China, and one to Africa, — all largely through the 
influence of the Christian coachman. 

When our own church became somewhat awake to 
the responsibility under which it lay towards the perish- 
ing millions of heathendom, it was felt necessary to have 
some means of communication, by which news from the 
foreign and home fields might be conveyed to its mem- 
bers, and the stream of contributions sustained. For 
this purpose a monthly magazine, The Banner of the 
Cove?tant, was begun in January, 1845. It was edited 
by the two secretaries of the missionary boards, one of 
these being at that time our junior pastor, Rev. T. W. J. 
Wylie. In its pages also was given intelligence of inter- 
est to our church. As treasurer of the board, — an office 
I filled from 1843 to 1865, — I became the publisher, and 
remained such until 1859, when it was converted into 



56 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H STUART. 

a weekly newspaper, in which form it appeared until 
1869. 

One of the topics which at that time excited great 
interest in our church was the proposal to unite the 
smaller Presbyterian bodies into a single denomination. 
The body which had seceded from ours in 1833 of 
course took no part in these discussions ; but it was felt 
that the ground taken by Dr. S. B. Wylie and his friends 
at the time of that division was encouraging to those 
who looked for a union of those Presbyterians who 
agreed in practising restricted communion, in the exclu- 
sive use of the Book of Psalms in worship, and in debar- 
ring slave-holders and members of secret societies from 
communion. My own sympathies went with those of 
our body who looked for such a union, and in the Synod 
of 1845 I supported this party by my vote, although both 
the pastors of our own congregation were opposed to it 
and voted against it. This movement was of very slow 
growth, but finally, in 1859, resulted in the organization 
of the United Presbyterian Church. But our church 
was not included. 

The Reformed Presbyterian Church was one of the 
few churches in the country that had made freedom 
from complicity with slavery a condition of communion. 
No person holding slaves had been admitted to its mem- 
bership since the year 1800, or even to occasional com- 
munion ; although, so far as I know, at that early day 
the members of the church had adopted no public meas- 
ures to advocate these principles. 

" Soon after the Revolutionary War and the formation of the 
Federal Constitution, the Reformed Presbyterian Church, having 
permanently established itself in this country, had her attention 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 57 

called to the existence of slavery to a considerable extent among 
the members of her communion. The subject was brought before 
the highest ecclesiastical judicature, when prompt and efficient 
action was at once taken. No temporary remedy—no gradual- 
ism—no colonization was permitted to have place. 

" A unanimous resolution was passed in the year 1800, that any 
of her members who were involved in the sin of slavery must at 
once manumit their slaves, or, of course, leave the church. The 
importance of this resolution, as well as the difficulty of its exe- 
cution, will at once be seen when it is remembered that one of 
the largest portions of the church was then in South Carolina, 
and many of the members were slave-holders or otherwise con- 
nected with the system. A committee was appointed to see that 
the resolution was carried out ; and nearly half-a-century ago the 
now venerable pastor of the First Reformed Presbyterian Church 
of this city went to Carolina in company with another minister 
long since gone to his rest, and saw the decision of the church 
fully carried into effect. And from that time till the present no 
slave-holder or abettor of slavery has been allowed any privilege 
in the church. There are also at the present time several or- 
ganized congregations in Tennessee and Alabama, yet they are 
strictly anti-slavery. Had all the churches in this country acted 
at an early period in so definite a manner, there is no room to 
doubt that slavery long ere this would have been known only in 
history." — " S." [Mr. Stuart ?] in The Banner of the Covenant, for 
February, 1845. 

It was the refusal of Rev. Alexander McLeod to become pastor 
of the churches of New York and Wallkill, on the ground that 
several of their members were slave-holders, which raised the 
question in the Reformed Presbytery — the Synod not being or- 
ganized until 1809. It was Rev. James McKinney and Rev. Sam- 
uel B. Wylie who went South to enforce the decision. It is said 
that only one member of the church, a resident of North Caro- 
lina, refused to manumit his slaves. As this action made the 
position of the Southern Covenanters uncomfortable, their emi- 
gration to the North was planned, and the Rev. Samuel Wylie, a 
nephew of Dr. Wylie of Philadelphia, settled in Eden (Illinois), 
to create a nucleus for this emigration. He was the first English-" 



58 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

speaking settler of the State, and more than a score of churches 
trace their origin to his, making Randolph County — the " Land 
of Goshen" in "Egypt" — one of the most Presbyterian places in 
the United States. Dr. Wylie, of Eden, lived to be the Nestor of 
the church, and strongly expressed his disapproval of the suspen- 
sion of Mr. Stuart by the Synod of 1868. His settlement sug- 
gested the name of the town where Mr. Dickens makes Martin 
Chuzzlewit settle ; but it is not on the Mississippi, as that was sup- 
posed to be. There were other settlements of Southern Cove- 
nanters in Southern Ohio and Southern Indiana. 

While I was still in my teens I became greatly inter- 
ested in the anti-slavery movement, which had been 
brought to my notice soon after the organization of the 
American Anti-Slavery Society, by a national conven- 
tion, which met at Philadelphia on the 4th of December, 
1833. Owing to the strength of public feeling against 
such a movement, the convention had great difficulty in 
securing a peaceable meeting, being threatened by mobs 
and liable to interruption. A committee of the conven- 
tion, consisting of Garrison, Whittier and May, was ap- 
pointed to draw up a declaration of sentiment, which 
was soon after given to the public. 

In Oliver Johnson's " Garrison, and the Anti-Slavery 
Movement," p. 152, some extracts from this declaration 
of principles can be found, which show that the original 
anti-slavery agitators appealed to the Bible in support 
of their principles and relied upon God for help. 

It may be well here to state that Benjamin Lundy was 
perhaps the first man in the country who agitated the 
question of the abolition of slavery. Years before the 
organization of the Society in Philadelphia he travelled 
and wrote extensively on the subject. Soon after the 
organization he came to reside in Philadelphia, where I 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 59 

made his personal acquaintance, as well as that of John 
Greenleaf Whittier. I was thus at an early age led to 
take a great interest in the welfare of the down-trodden 
slave; though against the wishes of many business 
friends, who thought that my relation to the movement 
would hurt the business of our house. The more I 
thought upon the subject the stronger became my con- 
victions that I owed to the slave practical sympathy and 
help. There was an Abolition party existing at this 
time in the city, but, as it was controlled by members 
of the Society of Friends., there were no religious exer- 
cises connected with their meetings. This led a few 
young men, like myself, belonging to various Evan- 
gelical Churches, to organize a Young Men's Anti- 
Slavery Society, whose meetings should be opened and 
closed with prayer, in accordance with our custom in 
similar gatherings. Of this society I not only became a 
member, but was also an officer, and took an active part 
in all of its deliberations. Our efforts were largely 
directed towards enlisting the sympathies of the Evan- 
gelical Churches in the cause of the suffering slave, 
slave-holding not being regarded as a sin by many of 
these churches. This society lasted nearly, if not quite, 
up to the organization of the Republican party. 

In the year 1837-38 the friends of both organizations, 
finding it almost impracticable to secure either churches 
or halls in which to hold public meetings, determined 
upon the erection of a large hall, which was finally built 
at the corner of Sixth and Haines Streets, and was 
named Pennsylvania Hall. In May, 1838, the hall was 
dedicated by a series of public meetings, which were 
crowded from day to day; but on the 17th, in the even- 



60 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

ing, a mob seized the building and set it on fire, and, 
although the flames lighted up the city, the authorities 
made no attempt whatever either to save the building or 
to arrest those who set it on fire. These circumstances 
are vividly impressed upon my memory, for my first 
child was born that night, and it so happened that I 
passed the building in a carriage with the doctor while 
the fire was at its height. I saw the flames ascending 
amid the cheers of a vast multitude of people : such was 
the public sentiment of the day. 

It was about this time that the colored people in the 
lower part of the city were threatened with mob violence. 
The mob had already done some damage, but was finally 
put down by a volunteer force of militia which was 
called for by the authorities and which I eagerly joined, 
shouldering my gun in defence of the colored race. 

It was about this time of which I am now speaking 
that the news came that James G. Birney, a prominent 
lawyer and slave-holder, and a member of the Presby- 
terian Church of Hunts ville, Alabama, had emancipated 
all his slaves. He afterwards removed to Lexington, 
Kentucky, to establish a paper advocating the cause of 
emancipation. Driven from that city, he moved to Cin- 
cinnati, where, soon afterwards, his press was thrown 
into the Ohio River, and he was obliged again to move, 
and finally located in Washington, where he for a short 
time published The National Era. I became so inter- 
ested in Mr. Birney's work that for some time I acted as 
his agent in promoting the circulation of his paper, and 
afterwards had the pleasure of entertaining him at my 
house. • 

In 1840 the first political organization for the over- 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART 6 1 

throw of slavery was formed and called the Free Soil 
Party. In that year James G. Birney was the candidate 
of this party for President of the United States, and 
Thomas Earl, of Philadelphia, for Vice-President. The 
party received less than four hundred votes in Pennsyl- 
vania ; but I am proud to say that for this ticket I cast 
my first vote. I was the only one who voted this ticket 
at the polling-place where I voted, and was told that if I 
did so my life would be in danger. Happily, however, I 
escaped personal harm, although my course excited dis- 
tress in the bosom of many of my friends and doubtless 
injured my business to some extent. 

This small party nominated John P. Hale for President 
in 1844, and continued steadily to grow until 1854, when 
it was merged in the Republican party. 

During my early connection with the anti-slavery 
movement I made the acquaintance of most of its lead- 
ing men, such as Arthur and Lewis Tappan, William 
Lloyd Garrison, Joshua Leavitt, Gerritt Smith, and 
many others. 

In the year 1 839 the slave-schooner Armistad, belong- 
ing to some Spaniards, was on her way from Africa to a 
southern port, crowded with native Africans, who had 
been seized and carried from their homes on board this 
slave-vessel to be sold as human chattels in the South. 
Among these poor Africans there was a born leader 
named Chiniqui, who probably would have astonished 
the world had he received the educational advantages of 
civilized men. He conceived the idea of securing the 
liberty of himself and his companions ; and, to this end, 
he killed the captain and all the white men but one on 
board the schooner and threw them into the open sea. 

6 



62 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

The white man whose life was saved was directed at 
night to steer for the North Star. After floating about 
the ocean for some time this slave-vessel was picked up 
by a revenue cutter and taken into the port of New 
Haven early in the autumn of 1839. Soon after, the 
owners came forward and claimed the slaves as their 
property. The case was carried to the Supreme Court 
at Washington, where the slaves were defended most 
ably by John Quincy Adams and Senator Baldwin of 
Connecticut. After an exciting trial the Supreme Court 
decided that the slaves were entitled to their freedom, 
because the slave-trade was contrary to our laws and 
these Africans were illegally held in bondage on the 
high seas. The friends of the slave throughout the 
country became deeply interested in this group of native 
Africans, and took measures to give them a Christian 
education and return them to their native country. This 
was the means of founding, in 1842, what is known as 
the Mendi Mission in Africa, which still exists, and 
which was the first mission of the American Missionary 
Society founded on anti-slavery grounds, in opposition 
to the policy of the American Board of Commissioners 
for Foreign Missions. 

Public meetings were held in several places with a view 
of enlisting sympathy in behalf of the Armistad negroes, 
and Lewis Tappan wrote me to know if I could arrange 
for a meeting in Philadelphia before their return, to which 
I responded, " I shall be happy to do so." The day of 
their coming having been fixed, I found it impossible to 
secure either a church or a hall in which to receive them, 
and it was not until the morning of the day of their 
arrival that I finally succeeded in obtaining our own 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 63 

antislavery church for their reception. Hence there was 
no opportunity for announcing the meeting in the daily 
papers. In this emergency I caused to be issued a few 
large handbills (some of which I still have) announcing 
the arrival of the Armistad negroes and the place and 
hour of the meeting. These handbills I employed sev- 
eral men to carry on poles throughout the principal 
thoroughfares during the day. Several times these men 
were threatened with violence. As the New School 
General Assembly was in session then, at Mr. Barnes's 
church, I sent the members a special invitation to attend, 
and many of them did so. The meeting was a most 
remarkable one, presided over by the venerable Dr. S. B. 
Wylie, Vice-Provost of the University of Pennsylvania. 
There was only a delegation from the Africans present, 
some fifteen or twenty in number. Their leader, Chin- 
iqui, spoke for nearly an hour in his native tongue, and 
held the audience breathless, although they could under- 
stand nothing but his gestures, which were so apt and 
expressive that you could fairly see him throw a man 
overboard. 

I had secured the Rev. Stephen H. Tyng, D.D., to 
make to the Africans a speech of welcome. At the 
last moment he wrote me a note expressing his regret 
that he must be absent on account of a sudden indis- 
position. Looking over the vast audience, I selected 
the Rev. Edward N. Kirk, then a young minister of 
Albany whom I had heard of, to take Dr. Tyng's 
place. He at first declined on account of the short 
notice; but finally consented, and, I may say without 
exaggeration, made one of the greatest speeches of his 
life and one of the most eloquent I ever listened to. On 



64 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H STUART. 

the following day I insisted on his writing it out, which 
he did, and I often afterwards read it to many friends as 
a specimen of rare eloquence.* 

Before that remarkable meeting closed, one of the 
younger Africans, who had made some progress in the 
study of our language, stood upon the platform to 
answer any questions which the audience chose to ask 
him. Among those who asked questions was that emi- 
nent minister of the Gospel, Samuel Hanson Coxe, D.D., 
who, among other questions, asked this young native 
African what he thought of the resurrection. As the 
young man had given his heart to Christ, he asked the 
doctor, " Do you mean when I was in Africa ?" " Oh, 
yes," said the doctor : to which he promptly replied, " In 
Africa we be Sadducees." Amidst the convulsed laugh- 
ter of the house the doctor took his seat. The boy had 
only studied the Scripture a few weeks, but was evi- 
dently making progress. 

My time was so taken up during the day that this 
great meeting was held that I had failed to secure lodg- 
ing for the entire party of Africans, and, at a late hour 
of the night, I was obliged to take quite a number of 
them into my own house, somewhat to the alarm of my 
family and the displeasure of my servants. We spread 
blankets and comfortables upon the floor of a spare 
room, where they slept soundly after partaking of some 
refreshment. 

* About a quarter of a century after this, while Dr. Kirk, then a pastor 
in Boston, was my guest on his return from the army, I showed him this 
speech, and he was so glad to see it that I reluctantly lent it to him to 
carry home. To my great regret, all my efforts to secure its return, even 
after his death, were unavailing. 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 6$ 

Before dismissing this subject I may say that I con- 
tinued to retain my interest in the emancipation of the 
slave and the welfare of the colored race, up to the 
hour when Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation (in 
the midst of the great war of the Rebellion) happily set 
them free. 



6* 



CHAPTER III. 

First Irish Presbyterian Delegation to America — The Work of the Amer- 
ican Sunday-School Union — Chidlaw, Paxson, and McCullaugh — Meets 
Dr. Duff in Edinburgh in 185 1 — The great Missionary brought to Amer- 
ica — Incidents of his Visit — New Church dedicated on Broad Street. 

In 1845 I again visited Europe on business of our 
house, this being the last time when I saw my mother 
alive. I went again in 1848, the year after her death. 
It was in this latter year that the first public deputation 
of the Irish Presbyterian Church visited America, con- 
sisting of Rev. E. M. Dill, M.D., and Rev. Jonathan 
Simpson. The occasion of their visit was the extension 
of the Home Missionary operations of their Church in 
the South and West in the years which followed the 
terrible famine of 1 846-1 847, because of the openings 
which were furnished for new work by that calamity. 
They came to ask aid of the Presbyterians of America 
in this good work, and especially of those of them who 
acknowledged Ulster as their native home or the home 
of their fathers. The interest, which their statements as 
to the readiness of the Irish Roman Catholics to receive 
and read the Scriptures awakened, was very great, and 
not only the rich among us, but even laboring men con- 
tributed heartily of their substance to the furtherance of 
the good work. I was glad to be able to act as their 
Treasurer, — receiving for them more than twenty-five 
thousand dollars, — and to further their wishes to the 
utmost of my power, besides entertaining them in my 
house during their stay in the city. Indeed, their rela- 
66 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H STUART. 67 

tions with me became so close as to cause me to be 
regarded as a sort of representative of the Irish Pres- 
byterian Church before the Presbyterians of America. 
When I visited Ireland the next year, there was at Bel- 
fast a public reception to myself and Mr. William Shaw 
of New York, in recognition of our services, at which 
Dr. John Edgar presided. Mr. Shaw suggested Dr. 
Edgar's coming to America in the same behalf, which 
he did in 1859. 

In 1848 I was chosen a manager of the American 
Sunday-school Union, a society established on a union 
basis in 1824 to promote the establishment of Sabbath- 
schools throughout the country, and to publish litera- 
ture calculated to assist teachers in their work and also 
books suitable for school-libraries. I held this office for 
twenty-five years, and for the subsequent nine years I 
was a Vice-President of the Union. In 1830 the Union 
had undertaken the great work of establishing Sabbath- 
schools throughout the Mississippi Valley, which then 
was rapidly being settled. It has done a great work in 
planting schools in all the destitute parts of the country, 
especially in the South and West. During the presi- 
dency of my venerable friend the late Mr. John A. 
Brown, I was frequently called to preside at its meetings, 
especially upon anniversary occasions, as his bad health 
often prevented his doing so. On one of these occasions 
(the annual meeting of 1876) I read a letter from the 
Earl of Shaftesbury, whom I had taken the liberty of 
inviting to address the meeting. The letter was worthy 
of its eminent author, showing his great interest in 
Sabbath-schools, and expressing his regret that he was 
unable to be with us : 



68 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART, 

London, May i, 1876. 
George H. Stuart, Esq., Philadelphia: 

Dear Sir, — A desire to visit the United States has long been 
in my heart. But I never have had time and freedom to do so. 
Many things — and some of them very grievous — have stood in 
my way. Now it has become impossible that I should indulge 
my wish. I struck "seventy-five years" on the 28th of April last, 
and I shall not dare — even if I were quite at liberty — to cross the 
Atlantic for the first time in my life, and enter on such a course 
of duties as would be opened to me by the kindness and hospital- 
ity of the American people. 

Sunday-schools will soon be the only means of religious educa- 
tion for the masses of the English people. Their great success in 
your country gives us hope. 

May God bless and prosper your great nation, to His own glory 
and man's welfare. 

Yours very truly, 

Shaftesbury. 

I afterwards made an unsuccessful attempt to induce 
the Earl to come to this country, having gone so far as 
to select the steamer in which he was to sail, when my 
negotiations seemed likely to be crowned with success. 

For about a quarter of a century I had the great 
privilege of entertaining at my house almost every winter 
three of the most eminent missionaries of the American 
Sunday-school Union, who visited the East to sustain 
the interest in the great work of planting schools in the 
distant West and South. These were the Rev. B. W. 
Chidlaw, John McCullaugh, and Stephen Paxson, who 
were among the most consecrated men and the most 
devoted workers for our blessed Master that I ever have 
known. 

Mr. Chidlaw came to this country from Wales a poor 
boy, and, while being educated, lived on thirty-two cents 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 69 

a week. He had entered the service of the Union in 
1836. Mr. McCullaugh came from Scotland, also a poor 
boy, and as a lay Sabbath-school worker in Kentucky 
and the Southwest did a marvellous work for Christ. 
He began the work as a volunteer, and became a mis- 
sionary of the Union in 1841. Stephen Paxson, born in 
Ohio, had a hesitancy in his speech which continued 
until the day of his death, except when he warmed up in 
the pulpit or on the platform. When he first went to 
school, the master sent him home, telling him he must 
learn to talk before he could teach him. When a young 
married man he moved to Indiana, and there taught 
a dancing-school. The father of the late Dr. William 
Adams, of New York, acting as a missionary of the 
Sunday-School Union, planted a mission Sabbath-school 
in his neighborhood, which Mr. Paxson's daughter was 
led to attend. Bringing home to her father's house some 
nice Sunday-school papers, she urged him to go to the 
school, which he did. As teachers were scarce, the 
superintendent said, " Oh, Mr. Paxson, we are so glad to 
see you, as we have a large class of boys here without a 
teacher." Mr. Paxson, who was totally unfitted for the 
place, told the boys to tell him all they knew and he 
would tell them all he knew. The boys then recited 
some passages of Scripture which they were to give as 
their lesson, and then told their teacher that they were 
entitled to so many cards. " Cards," said he, " what do 
you mean by cards ? Where shall I get them ?" The 
boys told him to go to the librarian. He did so, and the 
librarian asked him, " How may cards do you want, Mr. 
Paxson ?" His reply was, " Oh, give me a full pack." 
This illiterate, uneducated man was converted, and, after 



JO THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

he entered the service of the Union in 1848, he became 
instrumental under God in planting some twelve hun- 
dred Sabbath-schools in destitute localities where no 
Sabbath-schools or churches existed. Many of these 
have grown into churches in connection with various 
evangelical denominations, and now have settled pastors 
and a prosperous church life. While living in Illinois 
Mr. Paxson had a famous horse which he named Robert 
Raikes. This horse became so accustomed to his mas- 
ter's habits that he would never pass a boy or girl with- 
out stopping, as Mr. Paxson was accustomed to hand a 
Sabbath-school paper to every boy and girl whom he 
met. I have been told that the horse had a larger 
funeral than many a prominent and respected citizen. 
Mr. Paxson finished his labors a few years ago in St. 
Louis, and a history of his life has been prepared by his 
daughter, and is entitled "A Fruitful Life." To this 
volume I contributed a letter giving my reminiscences 
of the man : 

" My acquaintance with Stephen Paxson extended over more 
than a quarter of a century, and but few years elapsed during 
that time in which I had not the pleasure of welcoming him to 
my home. While he was beloved for his work's sake, he was no 
less so for his own. He was a man of a thousand. He had a 
racy humor and an inexhaustible fund of anecdote. His sketches 
of frontier experience in the far West, where he did so much for 
the Master, brought home to us vividly a manner of life fascinat- 
ing through its contrasts with our own. My children in their 
younger years learned to look forward to his annual visits with 
expectations of pleasure, and grew with their growth in years to 
regard him almost as one of our family circle, in spite of the long 
intervals between his visits. 

" But it was his Christian character which especially won him a 
warm place in our hearts. His prayers, when he led us at the 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART ?I 

family altar, were the truest and highest expression of the man, — 
simple, touching, appropriate, and winged with an unction which 
carried his petitions home to the hearts of us all — parents, chil- 
dren, servants — on their way to the throne of grace, 

11 Next to Mr. Paxson's prayers, his Sabbath-school addresses 
were memorable utterances with us. He had the gift to reach, 
hold and benefit every kind of hearer, down to the very young- 
est before him. Especially impressive was his account of his first 
day's experience in the Sunday-school, which I often heard, but 
which was ever so fresh that I never tired of hearing it. 

" Mr. Paxson's speeches showed him to be a man of one idea, 
whether spoken from the superintendent's desk, the pastor's pul- 
pit, or the platform. That one idea was the salvation of the great 
West for Christ through the Sabbath-school, more particularly 
through the work of the American Sunday-School Union. It was 
the work of this noble society, under God, which had led to his 
own conversion, and his transfer from a life of frivolity to the ser- 
vice of Jesus. 

" Mr. Paxson had no educational advantages, not even those 
furnished by the common school ; but he had a native force of 
understanding, an instinctive perception of the shortest way to 
human hearts,* and a courageous self-sacrifice, which made him 
one of the most efficient of the noble band of missionaries of the 
Union 

" Mr. Paxson is gone, but his work remains, and my earnest 
prayer is that the story of his remarkable life may be fruitful in 
raising up others to extend the glorious work of carrying the Gos- 
pel of Christ home to the children of our, country, and through 
them to their parents and friends in the manner of his own con- 
version." 

Mr. McCullaugh also died recently, and, although not 
so familiar with his life as with that of Mr. Paxson, I 
know that he was remarkably blessed by God in found- 
ing mission Sabbath-schools, and that in addressing large 
congregations he could hold their attention with wonder- 
ful power. Few men were better known in Louisville 



72 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

and other Southwestern cities than John McCullaugh of 
Henderson, Kentucky. His life has been written by 
Rev. Joseph H. McCullaugh, under the title " The Sun- 
day-School Man of the South," and is published by the 
Union. He was like Paxson in that there was never in 
his personal appearance anything to attract attention. 
On the contrary, it was grace that adorned both men, 
and made them such successful missionaries of Christ. 

Mr. Chidlaw is still living, and in his eightieth year 
working for the cause that lies so near his heart as few 
men, even in the prime of life, can do. He has recently 
passed through a heavy affliction in the death of his be- 
loved partner in life, who had been a great help to him 
in all his labors for our blessed Master. Few men liv- 
ing ever occupied a warmer space in my heart than Rev. 
B. W. Chidlaw, D.D., of Cleaves, Ohio. 

My trip to the British Islands in 185 1 is forever 
memorable to me as that in which I met that greatest 
of modern missionaries, the late Dr. Alexander Duff, 
and prepared the way for his visit to America. When 
in London in the great anniversary week in the month 
of May, on taking up the morning paper, I was sur- 
prised and delighted to find that the Rev. Alexander 
Duff, of whom I had long been reading as one of the 
most eminent of all the missionaries to India, was to 
speak that day at the anniversary of the Wesleyan Mis- 
sionary Society at Exeter Hall. A distinguished layman 
of the Methodist Church was announced to preside, but 
the only speaker named was Dr. Duff, of India. As my 
son Willie, a boy of eleven years, was with me, I said to 
him, " Let us hurry our breakfast that we may go and 
hear Dr. Duff," a privilege which I never had hoped to 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 73 

enjoy. When we reached the hall it was filling up rap- 
idly, and soon was crowded to excess. We occupied 
seats near the centre of the house ; but no one near us 
or around us could tell us whether Dr. Duff was on the 
platform or not. We waited patiently from before ten 
o'clock till after one, hearing several speakers, who spoke 
in the most laudatory terms of the work of their society 
for the past year, when they had raised and expended a 
larger sum than ever before. I began to think that Dr. 
Duff was not there, and this suspicion was confirmed by 
the chairman's announcing the great pleasure he had in 
introducing the Rev. Dr. Candlish of the Free Church 
of Scotland. Dr. Candlish, who was small of stature, 
arose from his seat and said, " Mr. President, this vast 
audience has not sat here all these hours to hear the 
Rev. Dr. Candlish, whom they can hear any day in Free 
St. George's, Edinburgh," and closed by saying, " I shall 
best subserve the interests of this society and meet the 
wishes of this audience by giving place to my beloved 
and honored friend Dr. Alexander Duff, who has just 
arrived from his great missionary work in India ;" and 
then took his seat. All eyes were turned to the plat- 
form, where a tall man, with bushy hair, arose to his 
feet, and, in a tone of earnestness that I have seldom 
heard, commenced an address of an hour and a half, 
which electrified the audience. He had evidently been 
annoyed by the somewhat boastful character of the re- 
marks made by previous speakers, and, at once address- 
ing the chairman, he said, in very broad Scotch, " I came 
not here to-day, my brothers, to lull you to sleep under 
the consciousness that you have done your duty to the 
heathen. You talk of raising last year over a hundred 
d 7 



74 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

thousand pounds, — a sum which you would spend in a 
single banquet on your Queen in Buckingham Palace ;" 
and then, raising his voice, he continued, " You might as 
well talk of levelling yon Alps with spades, or empty- 
ing your Atlantic ocean with buckets as to convert the 
heathen world by such efforts. ,, After comparing their 
past efforts to these and many other impossibilities, he 
proceeded, in a manner peculiar to himself, to describe 
the want of the Gospel for the millions of India, who 
were perishing daily in such vast numbers without ever 
having heard of the name of Jesus. During this re- 
markable address many of the audience were unable to 
restrain their feelings, and exclaimed, in real Methodist 
style, " Amen !" " Praise the Lord !" 

Notwithstanding the lateness of the hour at which this 
meeting closed, I made my way to the platform, in the 
hope of being able to take Dr. Duff by the hand; but 
I found myself too late, and, on inquiring where I could 
find him, was told that he was the guest of an eminent 
lady belonging to the aristocracy and profoundly inter- 
ested in Christian work, and that the condition of his 
health and the fatigue incident to such an address pre- 
cluded the possibility of his seeing any visitors. 

Some weeks later I found myself dining with a friend 
in the north of Ireland, an eminent Christian physician 
named Dr. Taylor, who had invited several ministers to 
meet me, and among them my particular friend Rev. 
Jonathan Simpson of Portrush. During our conversa- 
tion at the dinner-table I happened to mention my hear- 
ing Dr. Duff in London, and to express my disappoint- 
ment at not having met him personally. One of the 
gentlemen present said that the next day he would be 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 75 

elected moderator of the Free Church Assembly which 
was to meet in Edinburgh. I at once asked when the 
next train started for Belfast, and if it would reach there 
in time for me to catch the evening boat for Glasgow. 
On learning that it would, and that the train would soon 
start, I asked to be excused, left the dinner-table, and in- 
sisted on Mr. Simpson's going with me to Edinburgh. 
This he at first declined to do, on account of having no 
preparation for such a journey. On my pressing him to 
go with me, and offering to supply all his wants, he con- 
sented. We reached Edinburgh in time to take a hasty 
breakfast, and proceed at once to the great temporary 
hall where the Assembly was about to meet. Early as 
it was, we found a crowd gathered on ■ the outside wait- 
ing for the opening of the doors. The fact that Dr. 
Duff was to be the moderator was the cause of such a 
large assemblage. I feared that we should not be able 
to obtain a good seat, but was delighted to find among 
the crowd the Rev. Dr. Begg, with whom I had crossed 
the Atlantic many years previously. Through his influ- 
ence we secured a seat very near the platform. After 
the preliminary exercises and the opening address by 
the retiring moderator, Dr. Duff appeared in the desk, 
clad in his official gown, and spoke for over two hours, 
giving us one of the most eloquent and memorable ad- 
dresses ever delivered before that body of Christian 
ministers and laymen. Owing to the doctor's great 
animation and gestures peculiar to himself, his gown 
at the close could hardly be recognized as the garment 
in which he began his address. Relying upon the influ- 
ence of my friend Dr. Begg to secure me a short inter- 
view with Dr. Duff at the close of his address, I had 



J 6 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

only the opportunity of taking him by the hand as he 
was literally being carried out in an exhausted state by 
his enthusiastic friends. 

Upon being introduced afterwards to one of the clerks 
of the Assembly, I told him that I had to leave next 
morning for Liverpool to take the steamer on the fol- 
lowing day for America, and, as I had come all the way 
from Ireland for the purpose of having a short interview 
with Dr. Duff, whom I had failed to see in London, I 
would like to know where I could see him during the 
evening. I pressed my case as earnestly as possible, but 
he replied that, if I were the Duke of Wellington, I could 
not see Dr. Duff that day, as, in order to keep him quiet 
in his present feeble state of health, they had him stop- 
ping at a hotel incognito. When coming out from the 
meeting my friend Simpson said to me, " Now, Stuart, 
you have had your journey from Ireland without accom- 
plishing the end you had in view." 

We repaired to our hotel for a late dinner; and, 
knowing that there were but few first-class hotels in 
Edinburgh, I asked the head-waiter if there were any 
members of the Assembly stopping there. He replied, 
"We have several/' and among others he named Dr. 
Duff. As soon as I learned that Dr. Duff had finished 
his dinner, which was served him in his private parlor, I 
sent up my card (on which, fortunately, I had written 
" Philadelphia"), and soon received the reply that he 
would be glad to see me at my convenience. Leaving 
my friend in the dining-room, I repaired to a private 
parlor on the second floor, and, on my knocking at the 
door, it was at once opened by the distinguished mis- 
sionary whom I had so long desired to meet. With a 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. JJ 

cordial grasp of the hand which was peculiar to the man 
he gave me a warm greeting. Knowing the condition 
of his health, I at first declined to go in and sit down. 
He turned to his wife, who sat by an open-grate fire. 
" Wife dear," said he, " here is a man all the way from 
Philadelphia." He then introduced me to her, and in- 
sisted upon my being seated and remaining with him for 
some time. The key to this was that Mrs. Duff's only 
brother, whom she had not seen for many years, was a 
resident of Philadelphia. On making known his name, 
— Mr. Drysdale, father of the present Dr. Drysdale, — 
which, I believe, was the only name of the kind in the 
directory, I told her that I knew him well, and was able 
to tell her his business and the location of his store ; fur- 
ther, that a son of his was employed as a missionary by 
a city society of which I was president. 

During our conversation I told the doctor how I had 
been thwarted in my various efforts to see the man whom 
I had been reading about all my life, and that the pur- 
pose I had now in calling upon him was to urge him to 
visit our country. In his peculiar Scotch manner, and 
rising to his full height, he exclaimed, " I should be de- 
lighted to see America, were it not for that big sea which 
divides us ; but I am a very poor sailor." I tried to ex- 
plain how rapidly he could come by steam, how much 
good it could do, and what a welcome he would receive 
from the Christians of all denominations in the land. 

I continued to correspond with him from 185 1 to 1854, 
always urging him to come, and presenting as best I could 
new and encouraging inducements. When he finally con- 
sented (which was in 1854), I had his contemplated visit 
announced in most of our religious newspapers ; and, as 

7* 



y8 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

he had been engaged up to that time in collecting money 
in Scotland, for the great college which has been since 
built in Calcutta, some of our foreign missionary friends 
were alarmed lest he should be coming, with his great 
eloquence, to collect money for his own special work in 
India. I assured them, however, that such was not the 
fact; that I had invited him over for the purpose of 
deepening and increasing the interest of all our churches 
in the cause of foreign missions generally. My state- 
ment was confirmed by the fact that Dr. Duff, during his 
extended tour through the United States and Canada, 
never once alluded to the special claims of that field in 
which he was particularly interested. 

After a protracted voyage his steamer was detained in 
the lower bay in New York longer than I have ever 
known to be the case with any other European vessel. 
Finally a tug-boat brought him and other passengers to 
the Cunard wharf at Jersey City. Here, with Rev. Dr. 
John Thompson and a few other friends, I met him. My 
brother James wanted him as his guest, but his pastor, 
the Rev. Dr. Thompson, a Scotch minister, pressed his 
claims so strongly that Dr. Duff went to his house for a 
day's rest before proceeding to Philadelphia. He came 
to our city in the midst of the greatest snow-storm we 
had ever known. On the night of his expected arrival 
I had invited over one hundred and twenty ministers, of 
all the Evangelical Churches, to meet him at my house. 
But, to my disappointment, I learned at the depot that, 
on account of the great storm that had set in that after- 
noon, there was no prospect of the train by which he 
had started reaching the city that night, as the road was 
completely blocked with snow. I offered the company a 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H STUART JQ 

hundred dollars if they would send an extra engine with 
the hope of bringing the detained train to the city ; but 
they told me it was useless. Leaving my brother-in-law, 
Mr. David W. Denison, at the depot, with the only car- 
riage that was to be found there, I went home, feeling 
sadder at heart than I had felt for a long time. To my 
astonishment, notwithstanding the fury of the storm, the 
ministers began to arrive at the appointed hour, so that 
over eighty made their appearance during the evening. 
They sympathized with me in my disappointment, and 
endeavored to enjoy themselves despite the absence of 
the distinguished guest whom they had come to meet. 
Between nine and ten o'clock a few of them began to 
leave, and one of them said to me, in parting, " I am 
going home to tell my wife that the millennium has com- 
menced, as I have found leading ministers of all the 
Evangelical Churches meeting together as if they all 
belonged to the same family. Here," said he, " I have 
found Episcopalians and Methodists, Baptists and Pres- 
byterians, cheek by jowl." I may here add that this was 
the beginning of such gatherings as Philadelphia has 
often witnessed since. 

About ten o'clock, when others were preparing to 
leave, my door-bell was rung violently, and soon it was 
announced that Dr. Duff, Dr. Nicholas Murray (better 
known as " Kirwan"), and Dr. John Thompson were at 
the door. 

I escorted Dr. Duff to his chamber; and he soon made 
his appearance in the drawing-room, where a brief address 
of welcome was made, on behalf of the large number of 
ministers w r ho were still present, by the Rev. Dr. Jenkins, 
pastor of the Calvary Presbyterian church, who formerly 



80 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H STUART, 

had been a missionary in India. After this the ministers 
passed around the table where Dr. Duff and I stood, and 
were introduced by me to my distinguished guest. I was 
able to announce, as they came forward, the names of all 
but one. After this the whole party adjourned to the 
dining-room, where Dr. Duff asked the blessing upon 
our repast. On returning to the drawing-room a chap- 
ter of the Bible was read, and an earnest prayer w r as, at 
my request, offered, giving thanks for Dr. Duff's arrival, 
by Dr. E. S. Janes, afterwards a bishop of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. Dr. Duff wrote home to his w T ife 
that Dr. Janes's prayer pierced his very heart.* 

Before Dr. Duff's arrival we had secured the largest 
hall in our city for the purpose of giving him a public 
reception on behalf of all the Evangelical Churches; 
and, to secure the attendance of the representative men 
and women of these Churches, together with their pas- 
tors and other ministerial brethren, we had printed a 
pulpit notice of the meeting, and enclosed in each notice 

* In describing his first reception in Philadelphia the doctor says, " This 
remarkable meeting broke up a little past midnight, amid the hurricane 
raging outside. Some of the ministers, as they told us afterwards, were 
hours before they reached their homes, although not above a mile or two 
distant, buffeted by the tempest and up to the waist in snow. How can I 
pourtray my commingled feelings when I retired towards one o'clock to my 
couch of repose ? It is impossible. Such a reception, so new, so peculiar, 
so unprecedented, what could it mean ? With one or two exceptions not 
one of the assembled mfnisters had seen my face in the flesh, and yet, as 
each one shook hands with me, he spoke as if he were an old familiar 
friend — as if he knew all about me and held me as a brother in the Lord. 
Never before was any minister or missionary of any denomination so re- 
ceived and so greeted in this part of the world, or in any other that I have 
ever heard of. What could it all mean ? I was lost in wonder, adoring 
gratitude, and love." 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 8 1 

a number of tickets, asking for a judicious disposal of 
them by the several pastors. After we had distributed 
a large number in this way, we announced that the rest 
were to be had on application at several book-stores. 
After all had been disposed of, there was still a large 
demand which we were unable to supply. This meet- 
ing ~ was to be held on the evening after Dr. Duff's 
arrival, and, although the great snow-storm of the pre- 
vious day had abated, the streets and side-walks were 
almost impassable ; and yet thousands stood outside the 
building without tickets in the hope of gaining admit- 
tance. The platform was filled by ministers of all the 
Evangelical Churches ; but the friends of the cause in- 
sisted upon my presiding. After the opening exercises 
Dr. Murray made an admirable introductory address, 
and the manifestations of enthusiasm on the part of the 
audience when he took Dr. Duff by the hand and wel- 
comed him to our shores, it is impossible to describe. I 
never saw the like of it. Before the meeting was organ- 
ized an editor of a religious paper requested me to cau- 
tion Dr. Duff not to speak much over an hour, remark- 
ing that he had noticed that he often spoke in Scotland 
more than two hours. I quietly pulled out my watch 
when the doctor had spoken about an hour and a half, 
but this same editor, catching my eye, shook his head at 
me, fearing that I was going to stop the doctor, which I 
had no intention of doing. This remarkable meeting 
was held on the evening of the 21st of February, 1854; 
and our Philadelphia Christians had the opportunity and 
privilege of listening to one of the most fervent and 
earnest appeals for the cause of Foreign Missions that 
had ever been delivered. Describing a similar address 
/ 



82 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

in New York, Dr. Theodore Cuyler said, " At this point 
of the address the reporters had all laid down their 
pens ; and well they might, for they might as soon have 
attempted to report a thunder-storm. ,, 

During the remainder of this first week of Dr. Duff's 
visit to our city, a great many visitors called to see him, 
and I had the pleasure of giving him the first sleigh-ride 
he ever had. I also took him to visit many of our pub- 
lic institutions, including, of course, Independence Hall. 
This visit he seemed to enjoy very much. On one of the 
evenings of this week he spoke at a great public meeting 
on behalf of Sabbath observance ; and, on the evening of 
Sunday, the 26th, he preached in the great hall where he 
was publicly received on the 21st. Long before the hour 
announced for the public services the place was crammed, 
and the platform gallery was so crowded that apprehen- 
sions arose as to its giving way. The weather being 
very cold, the building was unusually heated, a fact 
which affected the doctor so much that he was obliged 
to shorten the services. On the Monday following I 
took him to visit some of the lowest slums in the city, 
so that he might speak that evening more intelligently 
at a city-mission meeting. At this again he spoke with 
such power, explaining tjie Scotch system, as exempli- 
fied by Chalmers and others, of reaching the masses and 
of dealing with poverty so as to check the growth of 
pauperism, that he awoke an interest in behalf of the 
outcasts of our city which is felt to this day. During 
his visit to Philadelphia he was pressed by many of our 
leading citizens to extend his visit to our country for a 
year or more, instead of confining it to a few short 
months. 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 83 

As an indication of the interest felt in Dr. Duff I may 
mention an incident that took place during his visit. The 
congregation with which I had been so long connected 
were engaged in the erection of a large new church 
building on Broad Street between Spruce and Pine, in 
what is now one of the most central locations in the 
city.* Being chairman of the Building Committee, I 
was very anxious to have Dr. Duff preach for us on the 
day of its dedication, and to this end had the contractor 
have his men work all night as well as all day, to hasten 
its completion before April 30, 1854, which was a Sab- 
bath. It was arranged that the pastor should preach 
in the morning, Rev. Dr. McLeod, of New York, in 
the afternoon, and Rev. Dr. Duff in the evening. The 
desire to hear the latter was so great that many of the 

* The erection of this new church edifice was due so very largely to Mr. 
Stuart's efforts, and to the contributions of himself and his personal friends 
outside the congregation, that it was felt fitting that there should be some 
recognition of the fact on the part of the church. On the 25th of July, 
1855, he was presented with a set of silver — a pitcher, a salver, and two 
goblets of exquisite workmanship — on behalf of the congregation by the 
pastor. The pitcher bears the inscription : 

" Presented to George H. Stuart, Esq., by the members of the First Re- 
formed Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, as a token of their affectionate 
regard, and as a grateful acknowledgment of his many acts of kindness 
and labors of love, and especially of his munificent aid in the erection 
of the beautiful edifice in which they worship the God of their Fathers. 
July 25, 1855." 

The church is one of the most spacious in the city, and on that account 
one of the most frequently called into use for meetings of large and general 
interest. There will be two opinions in this generation as to its beauty. In 
later years it was quite as frequently designated " Bishop Stuart's church" 
as " Dr. Wylie's church.'-' The title of " bishop" was first conferred by a 
lively writer in one of our Philadelphian newspapers, and had appositeness 
enough to stick. — Ed. 



84 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

afternoon congregation retained their seats after the 
close of the services so as to be assured of a place in 
the evening. Long before the hour appointed for the 
services a vast crowd had gathered in front of the 
church, many of whom failed to obtain admission. His 
sermon, which was afterwards published, was one of the 
most notable ever delivered on such an occasion in our 
city ; and even to this day it often 'is spoken of. Not 
long since Dr. Currie,the rector of St. Luke's Episcopal 
Church, in speaking in our church at a general religious 
meeting, referred very touchingly to the fact that Dr. 
Duff had taken part in the dedication of the church, and 
as a Scotchman expressed his gratitude for the privilege 
of speaking in a church that had been so honored, — the 
very walls of which he considered sacred to the memory 
of one of Scotland's greatest missionaries. 

He left Philadelphia on the 3d of March, and I ac- 
companied him to New York, stopping overnight as the 
guests of Dr. Murray at Elizabethtown. Here he spoke 
to a great congregation in Dr. Murray's church. The 
excitement and interest awakened in Philadelphia were 
repeated in New York on even a larger scale ; and, as a 
writer on one of the papers said after describing his first 
speech in New York, " Since Chalmers went home to 
Heaven Scotland has heard no eloquence like Duff's. 
.... When the orator opened his batteries upon the 
sloth and selfishness of a large portion of Christ's fol- 
lowers, his sarcasm on the mercenary mammonism of 
the day was scathing. Under the burning satire and 
pathos of that tremendous appeal for dying heathendom, 
tears of indignation welled up from many an eye. As 
the orator drew near his close he seemed like one in- 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H STUART. 85 

spired. His face shone as it were the face of an angel. 
He had become the very embodiment of missions to us, 
and was lost in his tremendous theme. The concluding 
sentence was a swelling outburst of prophecy of the 
coming triumphs of the Cross." 

After my visit to New York with Dr. Duff, I took him 
to Washington; but, much to the disappointment of our 
friends in Baltimore, we were unable, for want of time, to 
stop there. One of the best-known ministers of Bal- 
timore and several of her prominent citizens came to 
Washington, however, to hear Dr. Duff, and we arranged 
to spend the Sabbath there. Through the kindness of one 
of the chaplains of Congress, the House of Representa- 
tives had been secured for the morning service. Late 
on Saturday night the doctor asked me what kind of an 
audience he would have and on what he had best preach. 
I replied that he would have one of the most distin- 
guished audiences that he had ever addressed, including 
the President, his cabinet, and many members of both 
houses of Congress, with other representative men who 
were in Washington at that season. Distinguished as 
his audience might be, yet they needed the same Gospel 
of Christ that other poor sinners needed ; and, recog- 
nizing this fact, Dr. Duff took for his text the words of 
Paul, " By one man sin entered into the world, and death 
by sin ; and so death passed upon all men, for all have 
sinned. " The house was crowded to excess, many lead- 
ing Representatives and Senators being glad to obtain 
standing-room ; and many of his auditors were visibly 
affected by the earnest and impressive words of the 
preacher. I can recall, even now, the form of Mr. Pres- 
ton S. Brooks of South Carolina, as he stood in one of 

8 



86 THE LIFE OF GEORGE II STUART. 

the aisles wiping the tears from his eyes. President 
Pierce occupied the front seat, right before the Speaker's 
desk ; while the Speaker of the House, Hon. Linn Boyd 
of Kentucky, sat on the left of Dr. Duff, and I was 
favored with a seat between him and Gerrit Smith, and 
thus was able to witness the effect of the preacher's 
words upon the minds and hearts of this remarkable 
gathering. At one point of the discourse, after the 
doctor had described in his inimitable manner the 
glories of the heavenly kingdom, he suddenly paused, 
and, with his peculiar and awkward gestures, almost 
fell over the Speaker's desk into President Pierce's 
lap, as he exclaimed, in his broad Scotch, " But here, 
brethren, I must pause. I have only reached the 
threshold. I cannot enter the temple now." From 
this he passed on until he finished a sermon which 
must be remembered by all who heard it to their dying 
day. He was so exhausted by his effort that he had 
to go to bed immediately after we reached our stopping- 
place. 

My own engagements prevented me from accompany- 
ing Dr. Duff through the West. I had made the pre- 
liminary arrangements, and secured the Rev. Robert Pat- 
terson to accompany him and make appointments for his 
meetings ; and thus he was enabled to visit many of the 
large cities, colleges, and seminaries. On his departure 
from Cincinnati the ministers of that city had a farewell 
meeting with him, and the address of the Rev. Dudley 
A. Tyng, at that time rector of an Episcopal church in 
that city, has often been spoken of as very touching and 
impressive. He closed this address by saying, " When 
we next meet, Dr. Duff, we shall not meet as Presby- 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE II. STUART. 87 

terians, Baptists, Methodists, or Episcopalians ; but we 
shall meet you as one in Christ, in our Father's kingdom 
above." 

Before Dr. Duff's departure for Scotland, a committee 
of laymen of New York and Philadelphia, of which Rob- 
ert L. Stuart, of New York, and John A. Brown were re- 
spectively chairmen, was appointed at a public meeting 
of Evangelical Christians interested in Foreign Missions, 
to make arrangements for a Union Missionary Conven- 
tion to be held in New York. This committee issued a 
circular addressed to the officers of all Missionaiy Boards 
and permanent friends of Foreign Missions to attend a 
general Missionary Conference to be held in Dr. Alex- 
ander's Church on May 4, 1854. The response to this 
call far exceeded their most sanguine expectations. 
Every foreign Board and every Evangelical Church were 
largely represented by leading ministers and laymen. 
The Hon. Luther Bradish was called upon to preside, 
which he did with unusual dignity, and Rev. Robert 
Patterson and John Palen were appointed secretaries. 
For two days eight subjects previously prepared were 
discussed with great ability, and the result of the dis- 
cussion in every case was summed up by a most com- 
prehensive, appropriate, and satisfactory resolution, pre- 
pared by Dr. Duff and unanimously adopted. As the 
Convention drew near its close, I moved, and the Rev. 
D. Wills of Toronto seconded, that the Hon. Luther 
Bradish leave the chair and that Mr. John A. Brown 
take his place; after which a very cordial and unani- 
mous vote of thanks was given to the distinguished 
chairman for the able, dignified, and courteous manner 
in which he had presided. On resuming the chair Mr. 



88 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

Bradish returned thanks, in a very touching manner, for 
the privilege granted him. 

On the day in which the Conference adjourned, a pub- 
lic meeting was held in the Broadway Tabernacle. Long 
before the hour appointed, the house was filled and many 
turned away for want of room. Mr. Bradish presided, 
and, in the course of his introductory remarks, stated 
that the Convention (which had closed its labors that 
day) " had been highly favored by the presence of many 
of the faithful servants of the Lord and Master, who had 
long and successfully labored in carrying the glad tidings 
of salvation and peace to the remote and benighted cor- 
ners of the earth. Pre-eminent among these is our dis- 
tinguished visitor and friend Rev. Dr. Duff. Among the 
many good men who had so devoted themselves, few 
have so long dedicated themselves to the noble work, 
and with such distinguished success and such entire and 
self-sacrificing devotion. His whole life has been one of 
continual missionary labor." 

The religious exercises of the evening were conducted 
by Rev. Dr. Anderson, Rev. Dr. Pomeroy, and Rev. Dr. 
Forsyth ; on the platform were Rev. Dr. Adams, Dr. 
Alexander, and many others. After the opening ser- 
vices, Rev. Dr. Murray (" Kirwan") gave a brief state- 
ment of Dr. Duff's visit to America, with a graphic 
account of his visits to various parts of our country and 
especially to the Conference just closed; and, after read- 
ing the resolutions, the Chairman introduced Dr. Duff as 
the speaker of the evening. 

When Dr. Duff arose, he was received with unusual 
expressions of applause. He spoke about two hours, 
with an effect upon the vast audience which no human 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 89 

pen can describe. It was an appeal for the dying 
heathen such as was never heard before. At the close 
of his remarkable address the Rev. Dr. Tyng, by request 
of the Convention, presented a resolution of grateful 
acknowledgment and thanks for Dr. Duff's visit, as a 
special mercy of Divine Providence to American Chris- 
tians, in that he has been made by the blessing of God 
the instrument of recalling more vividly to our minds 
the great fact of our union in one body and in one spirit 
in Christ our Lord, of awakening among us more en- 
larged desires and views in reference to the propagation 
of the Gospel and the interest and prosperity of Chris- 
tian missions among the unevangelized nations of the 
earth, of leading us to value more highly those great 
doctrines of our common salvation in which true Chris- 
tians are agreed. 

After the passage of this resolution, the vast congre- 
gation arose to their feet and sang the long-metre dox- 
ology, with a spirit seldom heard, and then received the 
benediction from Rev. Dr. Bangs. 

A few days later, when Dr. Duff was about to depart 
for Scotland, Mr. Robert L. Stuart gave him a farewell 
reception at his private residence, to which he invited 
the leading ministers and Christian laymen belonging to 
all the Evangelical Churches of New York. It w r as a 
large and memorable gathering. During the evening 
Mr. Stuart invited two or three friends to go with him 
to his library in the second story. There, after referring 
to the good which Dr. Duff had accomplished for our 
country in awakening a new interest in the cause of for- 
eign missions, and also to the fact that while pleading 
for the evangelization of India he had never once em- 

8* 



gO THE LIFE OF GEORGE II. STUART. 

phasized in public or private the needs of his own col- 
lege in Calcutta, nor the fact that he had left Scotland in 
the midst of making collections for it, he proposed to 
raise a private subscription in behalf of Dr. Duff's col- 
lege, provided that those who subscribed would agree in 
no respect to diminish their subscriptions to their own 
boards. He further proposed that this subscription 
should be a strictly confidential matter and confined to 
only a few persons. Mr. James Lenox headed the sub- 
scription with five thousand dollars, Mr. Robert L. Stuart 
and his brother Alexander followed with a liberal sub- 
scription, to which I added a few subscriptions from 
some warm friends of Dr. Duff (notably John A. Brown, 
David Milne, and others) in Philadelphia. This enabled 
me, on the deck of the steamer, to place unexpectedly 
in Dr. Duff's hands a bill of exchange on London for 
over five thousand pounds (or twenty-five thousand dol- 
lars) ; at the sight of which he was startled, and said 
to me, " What does this mean ?" I said that it was a 
small thank-offering from a few friends, in testimony 
of the great work that he had done for our cause in 
this country. 

Dr. Duff, after visiting the United States and Canada, 
returned to Scotland, and again resumed his work in 
India, which, not long afterwards, he was obliged to 
relinquish on account of failing health. He continued 
to the end of life to plead the cause of the perishing mil- 
lions of India, and founded a chair of Evangelical theol- 
ogy in the Free Church college in Edinburgh, which he 
filled for a short time; but, on the 12th of February, 
1878, in his seventy-second year, in Sidmouth, England, 
whither he had gone in search of health, he passed away 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 9 1 

from earth to heaven. His remains were brought t<? 
Edinburgh for interment, and his funeral is said to have 
been one of the most remarkable ever held in that his- 
toric city. It was attended by the moderators of the 
three Presbyterian bodies, ministers of all denomina- 
tions, noblemen, and prominent citizens of every class. 



CHAPTER IV. 

The Berg-Barker Debate — The Young Men's Christian Association estab- 
lished in Philadelphia — Meetings of the Evangelical Alliance and the 
Young Men's Christian Association in Paris — Communes with the Alli- 
ance — Nominated to Congress — Bethany Sunday-School — St. Mary's 
Street Sunday-School for Colored Children — Purchase of Springbrook 
-—The Revival of 1857 — Conversion of George J. Mingins — Mr. Grat- 
tan Guiness's Labors in Philadelphia. 

In 1854 I may be said to have begun my career as a 
chairman of public meetings by presiding at the great 
debate between Dr. Joseph F. Berg and the English in- 
fidel Mr. Joseph Barker, on the Authority and Inspira- 
tion of the Scriptures. It was held in the old Concert 
Hall on Chestnut Street in the month of January, and 
lasted eight nights. Mr. Barker had been a preacher in 
connection with the Methodist New Connection, but had 
fallen away first into Unitarianism, and then into Deism, 
before he came to America. Dr. Berg's complete dis- 
comfiture of him was attested by the vote of some two 
thousand of the audience to adopt resolutions sustaining 
the Christian position, and thanking Dn Berg for his de- 
fence of it. It was my privilege nineteen years later to 
stand once more on the same platform with Mr. Barker, 
at the dedication of the hall of the Young Men's Chris- 
tian Association of Germantown. But now he was sit- 
ting clothed and in his right mind at the feet of our com- 
mon Master, as he had unlearned his scepticism, and had 
come back to the faith and the ministry of the Church 
of his early manhood. 
92 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 93 

On the 15th of June, after Dr. Duff's visit and the 
dedication of our new church edifice, I was privileged to 
take part in the organization of the Young Men's Chris- 
tian Association of Philadelphia, which was one of the 
first in this countiy, although ten years younger than 
the parent Association in London. 

The first Young Men's Christian Association was or- 
ganized in London in 1844, mainly through the instru- 
mentality of George Williams, a Christian young man 
from the country, who had procured a situation in the 
large dry-goods house of George Hitchcock & Co., 
located in St. Paul's Church-yard, in which many of the 
young men had their sleeping-rooms, according to the 
custom of the time. Mr. Williams had a small room to 
himself in this establishment, and, finding that there was 
a great want of religion among the young men of this 
and similar establishments, he invited a few Christian 
young men to meet in his room for prayer. From this 
little meeting other meetings grew and other establish- 
ments became interested, and finally a conference was 
held which resulted in the organization of the London 
Young Men's Christian Association. 

Having learned of this organization, I was anxious to 
meet with its founder, and hence, when in London in 
185 1, I called at the warehouse of Mr. Hitchcock, and, 
on inquiring for Mr. Williams, a boy was dispatched to 
bring him to the private office of the firm. After being 
introduced to him, I asked him to take me to his own 
private room where he had been accustomed to meet the 
young men of the establishment for prayer. That room 
was really the birth-place of the Young Men's Christian 
Association. There we had a special season of prayer 



94 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

that the blessing of God might attend this organization, 
intended to reach the young men of London with the 
Gospel of Christ ; for the founders of the organization 
had no idea then of its extending beyond London. This 
little meeting was one of very special interest; and to 
keep me in remembrance of the room and the meeting, 
Mr. Williams presented me with a placard of Scripture 
passages which hung upon the wall and which I still 
have. At that time we little thought of the extent of 
the work which was to follow the organization that had 
been effected in London. My interest in that work in- 
creased from year to year, however, as I heard from time 
to time of what was being accomplished in London by 
this new organization. 

Impressed more and more with the importance and 
value of the work, early in the summer of 1854 I took 
measures to call a meeting, in the old Jayne's Hall in 
Philadelphia, on Sansom Street between Sixth and Sev- 
enth, to consider the importance of having such an or- 
ganization in our city, without any personal knowledge 
at the time that two or three such organizations had 
already been formed in this country, — as, for instance, 
in Boston and Montreal in 185 1, and New York and 
Cincinnati later, and Pittsburg in 1854. This meeting, 
over which I presided, though not largely attended, 
was a very spirited one, and some of our most active 
ministers, such as Dr. Brainerd, Dudley Tyng, Shields, 
Jenkins, and Dowling, participated and spoke with great 
earnestness. We had our " doubting Thomas," of course, 
who, after rehearsing the difficulties in the way, said, 
" It's of no use, we may as well give up the idea of such 
a thing." But Dudley Tyng said, " No ! Let us organ- 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE II. STUART. 95 

ize," and so we went ahead with our plan. This meeting 
resulted in the organization of the Philadelphia Young 
Men's Christian Association, June 15, 1854, with fifty- 
seven members. I was elected its first President, the 
other officers being representative men of various de- 
nominations. William S. Martin was our Recording 
Secretary; Henry S. Murray, our Secretary; Gerald F. 
Dale, our Corresponding Secretary ; William S. Crowell, 
our Treasurer; with seventeen vice-presidents and thirty- 
three managers. 

We hired a small upper room on the south side of 
Chestnut Street below Seventh, where w r e held our 
monthly meetings. This room, for some time after the 
organization of the society, was opened in the evening 
only. The interest in the work increased so rapidly, and 
the claims of my business on my time were so great, that 
I told some of the leading members that we must have 
a permanent paid secretary who should give his whole 
time to the work. The name of John Wanamaker, then 
a clerk in a clothing store in our city, who was a prom- 
ising young man and an active member of the Rev. John 
Chambers's church, was suggested ; and the only objec- 
tion to his employment was the want of funds to pay his 
salary. I said, " If you can secure the man, and he is 
fitted for the place, I will see that his salary is paid." 
Mr. Wanamaker w r as elected and entered upon his duties 
early in the history of the Association ; and was the first 
paid secretary of the Young Men's Christian Association 
in America. His remarkable talent for organization 
showed itself even at that early day, and soon brought 
the Association to the notice of the various Evangelical 
churches of Philadelphia, and conciliated the favor of 



g6 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H STUART. 

those who for a time had stood aloof from us, because 
they feared our Association would interfere with their 
own work. The influence of our Association also ex- 
tended to other Associations which were being multi- 
plied" throughout the land, and soon the idea was ac- 
cepted that in order to do its work effectively a Young 
Men's Christian Association must have a paid secretary. 

In framing the constitution of our Association I had 
inserted a proviso that the President must be under a 
certain age. When I reached that age in 1862, I ex- 
pected to resign ; but the Association proposed to amend 
the constitution so that I might continue in office. This, 
however, I persistently refused to do, thinking it for the 
interest of the Association that the provision originally 
fixed upon should be maintained. I still retained my 
interest in the Association, however, and was often called 
upon to advise concerning its affairs after I had ceased 
to be its President. Some years afterwards Mr. Wana- 
maker resigned the position of Secretary and went into 
business on his own account. 

In 1855 I made my seventh trip to Europe, one of my 
objects being to attend the first World's Convention of 
the Young Men's Christian Associations, which met at 
Paris simultaneously with the Third International Con- 
vention of the Evangelical Alliance. The former had 
been suggested and very largely arranged by the Amer- 
ican Associations, and had for its object to establish a 
clear understanding as to the common basis of the Asso- 
ciations, and their relation to the work and membership 
of the Evangelical Churches, whose servant and co- 
worker the Young Men's Christian Association always 
has been. I had great difficulty, after arriving in Paris, 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART 97 

in ascertaining the place of meeting, as my inquiries at 
my hotel and on the streets for some time proved un- 
availing. Quite a change has taken place since then, 
the recent World's Conferences of the Young Men's 
Christian Association attracting no small share of atten- 
tion in the capital cities where they have been held. 
There have been ten others since that in Paris. It was 
at this convention that the " Paris Basis" was adopted, 
which confines the offices of the Associations to members 
of Evangelical Churches, while not excluding others from 
private membership. " Upon this foundation," says Mr. 
Cree, the International Secretary, " rests all the work of 
our American Associations, and to its adoption is largely 
ascribed the success which has attended their operations, 
the hearty sympathy of the churches, and the hearty co- 
operation of their pastors." 

To the Evangelical Alliance I was commissioned as a 
delegate by the Synod of my own Church, along with 
the Rev. John Neil McLeod of New York, and Rev. T. 
W. J. Wylie, my own pastor. During the sessions of 
the Alliance certain days were given to particular coun- 
tries. On the American day I was called to preside and 
to make the opening address. The building, which was 
the Protestant chapel in the Rue Provence, was crowded 
to excess, mainly with a French audience, and I had to 
speak through an interpreter, Rev. Dr. Grandpierre. In 
my opening remarks I referred to the territorial extent 
of the United States, and said, in a familiar way, that we 
could spare a piece of territory as large as France and 
England without missing it. My interpreter shook his 
head, much to the amusement of the great congrega- 
tion ; when I repeated the remark with greater emphasis, 
s g 9 



98 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART 

upon which the interpreter took his seat. There I was 
standing on the platform before that great French audi- 
ence, unable to speak a word of French. To my great 
relief, the Rev. Adolphe Monod, who was standing in 
the crowded hall near the door, pressed his way to the 
platform and made a translation of my speech. Some 
time after this, while dining with Mr. Monod, he called 
my attention to a very sharp criticism on my speech by 
a London paper, which censured the American Church 
for having sent such a representative, who said, among 
other things, that England and France might be blotted 
from the globe and in comparison with the United States 
would never be missed ! On my return to America I 
found that Mr. Webb, of The New York Courier and En- 
quirer, had severely criticised my speech, accepting the 
version of the London papers as correct ; but my friend 
Dr. Leyburn, editor of The Presbyterian, came warmly 
to my defence. 

Dr. Duff, to whose good work in America I bore tes- 
timony in this address, also attended the Conference and 
delivered an impassioned appeal in behalf of Foreign 
Missions. It was my privilege also to call the attention 
of the members of the Alliance to the excellent work 
which the Young Men's Christian Associations were 
doing, just on the lines of its own principles, — namely, 
the active co-operation of all Evangelical Churches in 
the service of their common Master. 

After leaving Paris, where the Conferences met in Au- 
gust, our Synod's delegation proceeded to the British 
Islands, and were received with especial welcome in 
Scotland and the north of Ireland. 

During the Conference of the Evangelical Alliance at 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 99 

Paris, there had been a celebration of the Lord's Supper, 
in which the delegates generally participated, and the 
services were conducted by Dr. Krummacher of Berlin, 
Dr. Duff, and others of the most distinguished among 
them/ Our own Church, in its " Testimony," had enun- 
ciated the principle that " no person should be admitted 
to occasional communion who would not be admitted to 
constant fellowship." For rrfy part, I saw nothing in 
this statement which was in the least inconsistent with 
my joining in this act of Christian worship with a body 
of men whom any Church on earth might have rejoiced 
to admit to its " constant fellowship," so I united with 
my Christian brethren in commemorating the death of 
our common Lord. But I found on my return that this 
had given very serious offence to some of the more rigid 
members of our Church, especially as I was attending 
the Conference as a delegate from our own Synod, and 
therefore might be regarded as having acted in an official 
character. Without waiting to have these brethren make 
any complaint, I attended the meeting of our General 
Synod in May, 1856, and there and then resigned into 
its hands the various offices I held by its election. I 
was at that time Treasurer of the Missionary Board, a 
member of all the other standing boards of the Church, 
and a Trustee of the Theological Seminaiy. I gave as 
my reason for this act the dissatisfaction which was felt 
by some of my brethren with my course at Paris in the 
matter of joining in communion with the other members 
of the Evangelical Alliance. The Synod at once re- 
elected me to every office I had resigned, thus entirely 
condoning an offence for which I had expressed neither 
penitence nor regret. I have been particular to describe 



IOO THE LIFE OF GEORGE II STUART. 

this action on both sides, as my suspension in 1868 by 
the same General Synod was on account of my alleged 
violation of this rule of our Church. 

It was in this same year, 1856, that I was offered and 
declined a nomination to Congress. The Republican 
party, crystallizing in 1854 and the following years 
around the Wilmot Proviso for the exclusion of slavery 
from the Territories, had put forward General John C. 
Fremont as its candidate for the chief magistracy of the 
nation. From being shunned in the thirties and forties, 
and denounced as an Abolitionist, to my surprise I was 
nominated for Congressman by the Republican Congres- 
sional Convention of the second district of Philadelphia 
(comprising the old part of the city), on the third ballot, 
the nomination being subsequently made unanimous. 
My first knowledge of this nomination was that, when 
I was riding in the cars from Germantown to the city, 
many of the passengers ran up to congratulate me upon 
my nomination. Not having heard of it or anticipated 
such a thing, I had to ask for an explanation, when they 
read to me the news out of the daily papers. I retained 
the official announcement of my nomination for several 
days, and friends of both parties urged my acceptance ; 
but as I had no political aspirations, and did not feel 
competent to undertake such a task as the representa- 
tion of so large a city on the floor of Congress, I sent to 
the committee the following letter of declination. 

Philadelphia, September 12, 1856. 
To Messrs. Pomeroy, Balch, and Smucker, 

Committee of the Second Congressional District Republican 
Convention : 

Gentlemen, — To represent in the Congress of the United 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. IOI 

States the Second Congressional District of Pennsylvania, a dis- 
trict equal in importance to any in the Union, is an honor of 
which any citizen should be proud. My connection with the 
commercial interests of our city, and the many benevolent insti- 
tutions which adorn it, has, no doubt, induced your Convention 
to select me from multitudes of our fellow-citizens more compe- 
tent at this critical juncture in our national affairs adequately to 
maintain the great principles of civil and religious liberty. 

Considerations of a personal nature preclude my entering more 
fully into public life, especially when there are so many citizens 
with time at their disposal and talents and acquirements which 
eminently fit them for the proper discharge of legislative duties. 
While, therefore, I tender to the Convention my thanks for this 
mark of their confidence, I at the same time most respectfully 
decline the nomination. 

Trusting that the highly respectable body of citizens whom you 
represent may be so guided in all their future deliberations as to 
secure in the highest degree the peace and prosperity of our whole 
nation, and preserve unimpaired the great fundamental principles 
of our Republican government, 

I am, with sincere respect, 

Your obedient servant, 

George H. Stuart. 

The convention reassembled and nominated my oppo- 
nent but personal friend, Mr. Edward Joy Morris, who 
was elected by a large majority and re-elected for sev- 
eral successive terms. Mr. Morris was subsequently 
appointed our minister to Constantinople, and came to 
be recognized as one of our leading public men, filling 
prominent positions up to the time of his death. 

While returning from one of my early trips to Europe, 
a young man was noticed walking on the deck from day 
to day who seemed, to have made no acquaintances and 
to have no companion. Sitting one day with a group 
of other passengers, some one asked, " Who can that 

9* 



102 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

young man be who seems to be always alone ?" Soon 
after I joined him in one of his walks, when I found that 
his name was E. Joy Morris and that he was the son of a 
neighboring merchant in Philadelphia. Our acquaintance 
ripened from that day until we landed in New York, when 
we parted at the dock ; and from that day until a few 
months before his death I never met him to know him, 
although it was my refusal to run for Congress that gave 
him his first entrance into public life. 

During these years which preceded the war, we had a 
Philadelphia Sabbath-School Association for conference 
among teachers of all denominations as to the best meth- 
ods of management and teaching, and the complete occu- 
pation of the field presented by our city. It was one of 
the many good things which fell into disuse during the 
war, because the demands of that time upon the energies 
of its managers were more than they could meet without 
giving up concerns of less urgency. Perhaps if the union 
feeling developed by the war among Christians had ex- 
isted before it, the Association would have had vitality 
enough to outlast the excitements of even that time. 

It was in connection with this Association and as its 
President that I acquired the honor of being " the grand- 
father of Bethany Sabbath-School," now the largest and 
most successful in the city, having some two thousand five 
hundred pupils and a Bible-class of some four hundred, 
taught by Mr. John Wanamaker. We were in the habit 
of holding monthly meetings of the Association, at which 
topics of practical importance and interest were discussed. 
At that time there was a great movement among the vari- 
ous Evangelical churches in planting mission Sabbath- 
schools in the city and our own little church had three 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. IO3 

such schools. The subject for discussion on one evening 
was the question, " What are the benefits to the church, 
or parent school, of establishing mission-schools ?" Dur- 
ing this discussion a young man of prominence and a 
good speaker told the meeting that he was proud to 
say that he belonged to a church (one of our leading 
churches) which had no mission Sabbath-school. The 
result of this speech was the organization of the Bethany 
School. Mr. John Wanamaker, one of the youngest men 
of the church to which the speaker belonged (that of the 
Rev. John Chambers), and some others of the congre- 
gation, were aggrieved that their church should not be 
represented in this good work, and started out soon 
after to the most destitute part of the city, then haunted 
by a gang called the Schuylkill Rangers, so that life 
was considered insecure late at night. They procured 
with great difficulty a room in which to commence, and 
organized a school in connection with their church. 
This school grew so rapidly that a building was soon 
after erected for its use ; but that soon became too small, 
so that a larger lot was secured in an adjoining neighbor- 
hood, and a school-house built on the rear, with the in- 
tention of building a church in front. The school still 
grew so rapidly that the ground intended for a church 
was covered by the necessary school-buildings and a 
large lot adjoining was secured for the church. Here a 
church was soon after erected capable of seating nearly 
two thousand persons. So a little mission-school in an 
upper room has grown into a large Sabbath-school hall 
and adjoining church-building at the corner of Twenty- 
second and Bainbridge Streets, being known as the Beth- 
any Sunday-School and Bethany Presbyterian Church, 



104 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

connected with which there are schools of various kinds 
held during the week, libraries, reading-rooms, and even 
a savings-bank in which poor people can deposit the 
smallest sums, also a dispensary where they can be 
treated without charge,— all designed to benefit the vast 
population that is now gathered in that part of the city. 
From being regarded as one of the most abandoned por- 
tions of the city, the vicinity of this school has become a 
delightful place of residence for that class of industrious, 
God-fearing people whom it has done so much to create. 

I rejoice that I was, in any degree, permitted to give 
an impetus to this grand movement. 

Another school which was begun the same year with 
Bethany has for me even a closer and more personal in- 
terest. My eldest son, William David Stuart, at that 
time in his seventeenth year and a student in the Uni- 
versity of Pennsylvania, being himself a teacher in our 
church school, met a colored boy on the street, and 
asked him if he went to any Sabbath-school. The boy 
said he did not, and gave as his reason that all the 
schools within his reach were for white children, and 
would not receive him. This led my son to hire a room 
in the neighborhood where he had met the boy, and 
there he opened a school with a small class of colored 
children. Subsequently he got the use of the lecture- 
room of a colored church in St. Mary's Street, on the 
very site occupied by the first church edifice of our own 
congregation, amid a dense and most degraded colored 
population. Here he established a school, which was 
opened on the 6th of December, 1857. In his diary, 
under that date, he writes : " This morning, in the midst 
of a pouring rain, we opened our colored mission-school 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 105 

with twenty children, which was highly gratifying. May 
God bless and prosper us." The school continued to 
grow in numbers and interest, effecting great good in 
that neighborhood. His interest in it was so great that, 
although in feeble health, he wrote them an affectionate 
letter on the eve of sailing for the West Indies, a few 
months before his death. 

But this year 1857 was memorable especially for the 
great revival of religion in the United States, which came 
after the depression of business of that year, — a succes- 
sion also noticeable in the years 18 19, 1837, and 1873. 
It was owing to the business panic that I very unexpect- 
edly bought of the late Caleb Cope his country-seat at 
Springbrook, then considered the most attractive site 
near the city. Of the one hundred and ten acres of 
land, forty were taken up by house, lawns, gardens, 
green-houses, and hot-houses (of which there were some 
dozen), a lake, and other pleasure-grounds. As Mr. 
Cope was passionately devoted to botany, his collection 
of plants and shrubs was extraordinarily fine, his busi- 
ness as a shipping-merchant giving him especial facili- 
ties for the collection of exotics. Although it lay some 
ten or twelve miles from the city, Springbrook was fre- 
quently visited by strangers, especially those who were 
interested in flowers and rare plants. In his collections 
was a splendid specimen of the Victoria Regia in a large 
tank, — then a much greater rarity than now. Mr. Cope 
also had very recently imported a fine specimen of the 
Century Plant, or American Aloe [Agave Americana), 
which blossomed in 1858. I had it transported to the 
city, and exhibited in Parkinson's Gardens, 1019 Chest- 
nut Street, for the benefit of the Young 1 Men's Christian 



I06 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

Association. The day of its blossoming was that on 
which Queen Victoria sent her congratulatory despatch 
to President Buchanan by the first Atlantic Cable. 

At Springbrook I was privileged to welcome many 
dear friends, from the General Synod of my own Church 
in 1859, to General Grant in 1865, on the occasion of his 
first social visit to Philadelphia.* But after nine years 
of occupancy I sold it, partly because it was very expen- 
sive to keep up, but still more because the atmosphere 
of the neighborhood was so extremely unfavorable to 
my asthma that I frequently had to drive into the city 
late at night to get out of it. 

The great revival of 1857 was characterized by activity 
and participation of laymen to a far greater extent than 
was any previous movement of the kind in this country. 
This was due to the deepening sense of the responsibility 
of private Christians for the use of their talents, which 
had been first awakened by the establishment of the Sab- 
bath-school, and was now increased by the activity of the 
Young Men's Christian Associations. Our Philadelphia 
Association took an active part in the awakening of this 

* We dined that day (June 23) by special invitation at the country-seat 
of Mr. Borie, who was afterwards Grant's Secretary of the Navy. Mr. 
Borie's seat was a few miles above mine on the river. On the occasion 
of General Grant's visit, I said to him, in the evening, " It is our custom 
every night to have family worship, arid we should be glad to have you 
join us in it." He answered, " I shall be very happy to do so." Mrs. 
Stuart sang one of the old Psalms, and I read a chapter and offered 
prayer, in which, of course, I especially remembered the General. The 
next day General Badeau, who was Grant's companion on this occasion, 
said to me, " Mr. Stuart, General Grant was very much touched by your 
family worship last night, and desired me to say to you how much he en- 
joyed it and how grateful he was for your remembrance of him." 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE //. STUART. 1 07 

memorable year. One step was the establishment of the 
Daily Noon-day Prayer-Meeting on the 23d of Novem- 
ber, mainly through the agency of Mr. John C. Bliss, now 
the Rev. Dr. Bliss, of New York. The first meeting was 
called in the Sabbath-school room of the Union Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church, on Fourth Street below Arch. 
The attendance was "very small at first, but gradually in- 
creased until thousands met daily at noon, and Jayne's 
Hall, the largest that could be obtained, would not suf- 
fice to contain all who wished to attend. These meet- 
ings, both in Philadelphia and New York, were the focus 
of revival interest, and shared with the meetings in the 
fire-engine and hose houses in the great work of witness- 
ing the glory of God in the salvation of sinners.* 

Another measure of active participation on the part 
of our Association was the securing a movable tent, 
which was set up in destitute parts of the city. In this 
the Gospel w T as preached every evening in the week, and 
at such hours of the Sabbath as did not interfere with 
the regular church services. Although it accommodated 
some twelve hundred persons, it often was insufficient to 
hold the crowds. Many of them were people who never 
darkened the door of a church, but they flocked to hear 
the Gospel proclaimed by pastors of the various Evan- 
gelical churches, who cheerfully volunteered their ser- 
vices for this great work. There were multitudes of 
hopeful conversions, among whom there were several 
young men who afterwards became ministers of the 
Gospel. 

* An account of this revival, written chiefly by Dr. George Duffield, Jr., 
was published under the title, " Pentecost, or the Work of God in Phila- 
delphia. " It is now very scarce. 



108 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

One of these young men had been an avowed infidel 
and belonged to an infidel club, where his native Scotch 
eloquence was employed on the Sabbath in denouncing 
the Bible and the faith of his fathers. While the tent 
was located at Tenth and Callowhill Streets, and while 
Rev. Dr. Breed was preaching, this infidel, with a few 
young companions, came to the tent to secure an ad- 
dition to his stock of material for ridiculing Christianity. 
Here the Spirit of God arrested him, and the next day I 
received a letter from him, written under deep conviction 
of sin, and desiring that I should come and talk with 
him in regard to his soul and pray for him. Soon after 
receiving this, I had a visit in my counting-room from 
the Rev. John Chambers, one of our most active Chris- 
tian workers. I read him the letter, and, at my request, 
he went to see the man, and returned soon after to tell 
me this was a case calling for our best efforts and most 
earnest prayers. Not long after, this infidel gave his 
heart to Christ; and, when a union prayer-meeting of 
some four thousand persons was assembled in the new 
Jayne's Hall, I called upon this young convert to confess 
publicly his faith in Christ. The crowded platform of 
ministers and the great congregation were thrilled with 
the first religious address of George J. Mingins, who im- 
pressed the audience as I seldom have seen an audience 
impressed. 

Soon after this, Mr. Mingins was led, through my in- 
fluence, to leave the gold-beater's shop on the corner of 
Fifth and Cherry, where he had been employed, and 
become superintendent of those tent-services through 
whose influence he himself had been converted. These 
he conducted so remarkably that it was suggested that 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE II. STUART. I09 

he should become a minister of the Gospel. He said 
that he had not the education required for that work, as 
he had come to this country from a country-school in 
Scotland. As he was possessed, however, of rare native 
gifts, both intellectual and linguistic, Rev. George Duf- 
field, Jr. (author of the hymn u Stand up for Jesus") 
kindly volunteered to prepare him for entering the min- 
istry, and he was licensed to preach the Gospel by the 
New School Presbytery of Philadelphia, of which Mr. 
Duffield was a member. While a licentiate of this Pres- 
bytery he went into a district not far from the city which 
was regarded by many as hopeless ; but soon he gath- 
ered around him a congregation that filled the largest 
hall that could be secured, and this congregation was 
organized into a church which called him to be their 
pastor. This new congregation was in the field covered 
by the Old School Presbytery, and as such was taken 
under their care. The Presbytery met to consider the 
call which had been extended to Mr. Mingins and to 
examine him with reference to ordination. At this 
meeting, on inquiry, they found that Mr. Mingins was a 
graduate of neither a college nor a seminary, but, never- 
theless, he was asked to preach a trial sermon, and the 
effect was such that the venerable father of the Presby- 
tery, Dr. Steele of Abington, said that the young man 
had a higher certificate of his fitness to preach than 
either Princeton College or Princeton Seminary could 
give him, — a certificate from the Holy Spirit. This re- 
mark attracted great attention, because it marked an 
innovation upon the practice of the Old School Presby- 
terians, and it led to the ordination of Mr. Mingins. 
Soon after his settlement over this church the War of 

10 



110 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

the Rebellion broke out, the Christian Commission was 
organized to care for the wants of our soldiers in the 
field, and this young pastor was among the first party 
of delegates that volunteered to go to the front. With- 
out resigning his pastorate, he became one of the most 
efficient workers of the Commission ; and, when it was 
greatly in need of funds, he, with Dr. Robert Patterson 
of Chicago, went to California on its behalf, and returned 
with over one hundred and forty thousand dollars to 
supply this want. The New York branch of the Com- 
mission wrote me, about this time, that, in order to 
make their branch efficient, I should send them a good 
man who was capable of presenting our cause in the 
pulpits of that city. I secured the resignation of Mr. 
Mingins as a country pastor and sent him to fill this 
important position. I discovered afterwards that the 
New York committee, after seeing Mr. Mingins, con- 
cluded that, although I might understand Philadelphia, 
I had made a mistake in sending such a man to repre- 
sent our cause before New York audiences. When he 
reached the office in New York, he was asked what he 
could do. He said, " I am ready to do anything for the 
Master, to the sweeping out of the office." Accordingly, 
for some time he was employed in the office, rendering 
service which any boy might have done as well. Pres- 
ently, however, the New York committee were asked to 
send a delegation to a prominent town in Connecticut to 
present the claims of the Commission. Two of the lead- 
ing pastors of New York were selected, and were told to 
take Mingins along and ascertain whether he was capa- 
ble of pleading the cause before an enlightened congre- 
gation. When these pastors returned, they begged not 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. Ill 

to be sent with that man again, as he made the speech 
of the evening and knew a great deal more about the 
wants of the army than they did. From that time Mr. 
Mingins had the privilege of presenting the cause of the 
Christian Commission in many of the best New York 
pulpits.* 

During the great revival of 1857, I had my attention 
called, by letters from Ireland, to a young Evangelist, 
the Rev. Henry Grattan Guinness, whose labors had 
been greatly blessed in his and my native land. I men- 
tioned the fact at a large prayer-meeting in Philadelphia, 
and a committee, consisting of Dr. Kennard and Dr. 
Malin, with myself as chairman, was appointed to send 
an invitation to Mr. Guinness to visit our country. This 
he accepted, and his first sermon in our city in 1859 was 
preached in the large new Jayne's Hall on a week-day 
evening to a congregation which filled the hall. He re- 
mained with us several months, and preached in our own 
church (Dr. Wylie's) over seventy nights, many of them 
exceedingly stormy ; and yet on the stormiest night it 
was difficult to find standing-room in the large church, 
which seats twelve hundred people. I call to remem- 
brance one very severe storm, so that by night the 
streets were almost impassable. Early on this week- 
day evening, which was in midwinter, I sent to the 
church, which was close to my house, and told, the 

* After the close of the war, instead of letting him return to Philadel- 
phia, several New York gentlemen, among whom were the late William 
E. Dodge and Morris K. Jessup, determined to retain his services in the 
city, as Superintendent of City Missions. Since he resigned this post a 
large congregation organized by him has grown up, of which he still con- 
tinues to be the pastor. 



112 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

sexton to light up the lecture-room, as it would be 
quite sufficient to hold all who would assemble on such 
a night. But on going to the church about half an hour 
before the time of service, I found every pew filled and 
people standing in the aisles. Among the constant at- 
tendants at these services was the venerable Dr. Elipha- 
let Nott, the former President of Union College, who was 
spending the winter in Philadelphia for his health, and 
was boarding on Broad Street very near the church. 
One evening his colored servant expostulated with him 
when he was preparing to set out. " Doctor," said he, 
" it was given out that the meeting to-night would be for 
sinners !" The doctor replied that he also was a sinner. 

As the result of these extraordinary meetings, which 
were held on every evening in the week except Satur- 
day, multitudes were led from the service of Satan to 
give their hearts to Christ. The effect of Mr. Guinness's 
first visit to our country cannot be described, and its im- 
pressions are felt to the present day. His preaching was 
eminently plain and Scriptural, but characterized by an 
eloquence and fervor which were peculiar to the man 
and touched all hearts. From that day to his present 
visit to America, I have watched the course of this de- 
voted servant of Christ and his beloved wife with deep 
and increasing interest, and particularly their work as 
the founders of a great training-school in London to 
prepare both lay and clerical workers, female as well 
as male, for mission-work, especially in Africa. I have 
understood that some five hundred laborers have gone 
from that school to Africa and other mission-fields. 

During Mr. Guinness's second visit to this country, 
which was quite brief, I saw but little of him. On his 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE II STUART. 113 

third visit, I had the pleasure of entertaining him at my 
house and again hearing him preach in our own church. 
Many of those who had been converted through his 
labors in 1859 attended this service, and at its close, 
they gathered around the pulpit to greet the man whose 
words had led them to give their hearts to Jesus. These 
converts, during all these intervening years, had been 
faithful members of evangelical churches. The object 
of Mr. Guinness's third visit to this country was to 
transfer the Congo Mission in Africa, which he had been 
instrumental in founding, with its more than forty mis- 
sionaries, to the care of the American Baptist Mission- 
ary Union ; and this he finally accomplished. His pres- 
ent visit (1889) is designed to awaken a new interest in 
the claims of Africa as a field of missions. The labors 
of this young Irish evangelist for the cause of Christ 
throughout the world shows what one man, truly conse- 
crated to the service of the Master, can accomplish.* 

* My interest in evangelism was increased by the first visit of Mr. Guin- 
ness to our country, and I determined to aid those who were endeavoring 
to reach the masses by means outside of what is provided by our regular 
church services. Among the earliest of those whom I tried to help was 
the Rev. E. Payson Hammond, during his first visit to Philadelphia. His 
efforts, here as elsewhere, were greatly blessed to the children of our city, 
so that at times he addressed large out-door meetings under a tent which 
was erected for that purpose. The late Matthias W. Baldwin, the emi- 
nent locomotive-builder, took so much interest in Mr. Hammond's labors 
that, at his own expense, he secured the large Academy of Music, where 
the Gospel was preached to great crowds. 



10* 



CHAPTER V. 

Third Irish Presbyterian Delegation — Dr. Edgar — Visit to Great Britain 
and Ireland with Dr. Murray — Describes Moody's Work at an Edin- 
burgh Meeting — The Revival in Wales — Visit to Athlone Presbytery 
and the Scene of the Irish Revival — Dr. Murray's Last Days. 

The same year (1859) we had other visitors from Ire- 
land, as the third deputation* of the Irish Presbyterian 
Church came to plead for assistance for its Home Mis- 
sion work in the south and west of the island. It con- 
sisted of Revs. Dr. John Edgar, S. M. Dill, and David 
Wilson, all of them strong men, but the first a prince 
among men, and second only to Dr. Henry Cook in the 
leadership of the Irish Presbyterian Church. His sin- 
gular homeliness of feature at once attracted the atten- 
tion of an audience ; but when his eye lit up with the 
natural warmth and Irish humor of his character, all else 
was forgotten. Few will forget his humorous account 
of his trying to teach the girls in the Connaught schools 
to knit, but breaking down hopelessly when it came to 
" turning the heel" of the stocking. While we have had 
many great preachers in the pulpit of our church, there 
has been no more remarkable sermon than his on the 

* There was a second deputation in 1858, consisting of Rev. William 
McClure and Rev. Prof. Gibson. It came directly from the Irish Gen- 
eral Assembly, as did that of 1867, while the deputations of 1848 and 
1859 were sent by the Assembly's Board of Missions. Its special task 
was to visit the churches and mission -stations in British North America; 
but it also came to the United States and received contributions for the 
mission work in Ireland. 
114 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 115 

text, " And Naomi took the child, and laid it in her 
bosom. " To him Ireland owes the beginning of her 
Temperance Reformation ; and it is to be regretted that 
his attitude towards the later developments of that 
movement have obscured the remembrance of his ser- 
vices, and even prevented the republication of his biog- 
raphy by Prof. Killen in this country. 

It was while sitting in my office that he received a let- 
ter from home, announcing the death of his colleague 
and dear friend Prof. Robert Wilson of Belfast, and as 
he silently read it we saw the shadow of a deep sorrow 
pass over his face, until he could no longer control him- 
self and burst into tears. That very evening he was to 
address a great meeting in Jayne's Hall, but the sad 
news from Ireland had so unmanned him that he was 
obliged to sit down after speaking but a few minutes. 
Under that rough, weather-beaten exterior he had a 
heart as tender as a child's. He did speak with great 
success in New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburg, and many 
other places, and addressed the meetings of the Synods 
of Pittsburg and Ohio, preaching thrice almost every 
Sabbath during his stay, besides speeches on week-days. 
Our newspapers spoke not flatteringly of his looks, but 
with unreserved admiration of his humor, his epigram- 
matic terseness, his bright thoughts, " his big, honest* 
heart." I acted as treasurer for the deputation, as for 
that of 1848, and had the pleasure of remitting some- 
thing over thirty thousand dollars for them. Dr. Dill 
told the Irish Assembly of 1866 that before he left New 
York on this occasion he called on a merchant who had 
not been very successful in business, and who showed 
very little sympathy with the object of their visit. He 



Il6 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

asked how much they had got, and when told the 
amount he showed his astonishment, but added, " It was 
George Stuart got you that; but he is mad, decidedly 
mad!" Dr. Dill retorted that there was method in my 
madness, since I was as diligent in business as fervent in 
the Spirit.* 

In i860 I made my eighth trip to Europe, this time in 
company with Dr. Nicholas Murray of Elizabeth, better 
known as " Kirwan," from the signature he employed in 
his famous " Letters to Archbishop Hughes. " He was 
born in the County of Westmeath, of Roman Catholic 
parents, and came to this country in his sixteenth year, 
and through the preaching of Dr. John M. Mason he 
was led to study the Scriptures and thus to renounce 
Romanism. He studied in Amherst College and Prince- 
ton Theological Seminary, and gave himself to the work 
of a missionary and a pastor, although he was called to 
two college chairs. He settled as pastor at Elizabeth, 
New Jersey, where he was eminently useful and where 

* Prof. Killen, in his Memoir of John Edgar, speaks with hearty recog- 
nition of Mr. Stuart's services to this deputation, and also of those of Dr. 
Murray. He says, " He had often already assisted Dr. Edgar by contri- 
butions to his schemes of benevolence ; and he now prompted others to 
generous giving by a donation of a thousand dollars. This, however, 
was only part of the aid he rendered to the Irish deputation. Wherever 
they went, he pioneered the way, introduced them to men of wealth and 
influence, and made arrangements for securing the success of their ap- 
peal." During his visit Dr. Edgar met a number of the pupils of the 
industrial schools he had been the means of establishing in Connaught, 
and found one convert of the Irish Presbyterian mission occupying a 
pulpit of the Presbyterian Church (O. S.). These things gave him great 
satisfaction, but there is reason to fear that his labors on this visit were 
too much for his strength, as he was already in his sixty-second year. He 
died in 1866. — Ed. 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H STUART. II7 

he wrote his " Kirwan" letters in 1847 and 1848. He 
was a man of many gifts, of strong will, of keen wit, of 
earnest, honest love for the truth, and of thoroughly 
practical character ; but he is much less known to this 
generation than to the last. To have known him both 
publicly and personally I count as one of the privileges 
of by-gone years, and I rejoice to know that his fine 
qualities are perpetuated in his family. 

On the 14th of August, in the company of Dr. Ley- 
burn, editor of The Presbyterian, we set out on our jour- 
ney, which surpassed in interest any of my previous visits 
to the old world. The blending of benevolence, wit, and 
piety in Dr. Murray's character made him the most agree- 
able of travelling companions, and arrested the attention 
and commanded the respect of our fellow-passengers on 
the Adriatic. We reached London in time to attend 
the May meetings, and Dr. Murray spoke at those of 
the Bible Society and the Religious Tract Society as 
the representative of the corresponding organizations in 
America. We were hospitably received by the friends 
of these societies, and Dr. Murray's native politeness 
and urbanity showed to advantage in those courtly and 
aristocratic circles. 

From London we proceeded to Edinburgh, where he 
spoke before both the Assemblies as the corresponding 
delegate of the Old School Assembly in America. His 
address before the Free Church Assembly had for its 
subject, " What constitutes a True Blue Presbyterian ?" 

Mr. Spurgeon also had come to Edinburgh, on a spe- 
cial invitation to address the Free Church Assembly, 
this being, I believe, his first visit to the city. There 
was a public breakfast given him by the friends of the 



Il8 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART 

Sabbath-school cause, by way of welcome. I was the 
guest of Mr. Thomas Nelson, the publisher, at the time, 
and, as such, was taken to this breakfast, which was held 
in a large public hall. Mr. Dixon, the chairman of the 
meeting, introduced the Rev. Mr. William Arnot to make 
a short address, for the purpose of giving Mr. Spurgeon 
an opportunity to digest his breakfast before he was called 
on to speak. During Mr. Arnot's eloquent talk some one 
.in the audience sent up my name to the chairman, as a 
friend from America interested in Sabbath-schools. As 
soon as Mr. Arnot sat down, the chairman called upon 
me to come forward to the platform and in five minutes 
tell all about the Sabbath-schools of America. Taking 
out my watch, I commenced by stating that, as the sub- 
ject was a large one and the time for its discussion was 
brief, I would waive all introductory remarks and pro- 
ceed at once to the discussion of the subject, dividing it 
into three heads : first, a place ; second, a man ; and third, 
a school. I said that when I went to America as a young 
man the place about which I was to speak had thirty-three 
inhabitants ; and that, being there last summer with my 
wife and daughters, I was obliged to get a policeman to 
help us across one of the principal thoroughfares, the 
crowd being so great; and that this place had at that 
time three hundred and seventy-five thousand inhabi- 
tants. The people glanced at each other, as much as to 
say, " That is a Yankee story." So much, I said, for the 
place. The man, when a young lad, left his quiet coun- 
try home to make his way through the world, and found 
a situation in a shoe-store in one of our large cities. The 
head of the house took the lad to his Sabbath-school, and 
placed him in the class of a young teacher who was emi- 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE II STUART. IIQ 

nently successful in interesting the boys under his charge. 
This country boy, being handed a Bible, and trying to 
find the lesson, which was in one of the Epistles, was 
looking for it in Genesis, — which set the other boys to 
laughing. The teacher kindly handed the pupil his own 
Bible open at the right place. This boy afterwards was 
converted in that church, which he proposed to join, but 
the pastor found him so ignorant that he declined to re- 
ceive him for some six months. This pastor was Dr. 
Kirk of Boston, who told me this himself, and said that 
he had afterwards listened to the preaching of that boy, 
with interest and profit. This country boy soon after his 
conversion removed to the place I have referred to, and, 
soon after, being still regarded as too ignorant to teach 
in the church Sabbath-school, founded one of his own. 
This I had visited when I was in the place referred to, 
on an exceedingly hot summer day, with the thermome- 
ter at 98 , — so hot, indeed, that one of the most eloquent 
preachers in the land, Dr. Rufus Clarke, of Albany, ad- 
journed the morning service, to meet in the lecture-room 
in the evening, on account of the extreme heat. Yet in 
that school I found over a thousand scholars, who were 
taught as well as superintended by this country boy. I 
closed my five-minutes address in time, by saying that 
the place was Chicago, the boy was Dwight L. Moody, 
and the school the Illinois Mission. I do not believe that 
half a dozen of those present fully believed my story, and 
probably not one of them had ever heard of Mr. Moody. 
After spending a Sabbath in Glasgow, where Dr. Mur- 
ray preached in the pulpit of St. John's church, once Dr. 
Chalmers's parish, we proceeded to Wales, to witness with 
our own eyes the progress of the great revival which 



120 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

seemed to be transforming the whole face of society 
through divine grace. We held four large meetings, at 
which Rev. Thomas Phillips, agent of the Bible Society, 
preached in Welsh, and was followed by (interpreted) ad- 
dresses from Dr. Murray and myself, in which we gave 
the people some account of what God had been doing 
for America. In the slate-quarries of Bangor we found 
that more than fifty daily prayer-meetings were held in 
the huts of the quarry-men during the dinner-hour. 
While we were buying our tickets at the railroad station 
to leave the principality, one of the porters pointed out 
to us the box of Bibles and hymn-books used by the 
railway men in their daily prayer-meeting. These and 
other signs, which met us on every side, proved that the 
work had penetrated the working classes, and, indeed, 
had reached the lowest strata of Welsh society. 

From Wales we proceeded to Ireland, landing at Bel- 
fast, where Dr. Edgar had inyited a large number of 
ministers, professors, and leading laymen to meet us at 
breakfast in his house. We put ourselves into his hands 
for the management of our visit. We had two objects 
in view. Dr. Murray wished to inform himself of the 
progress of the Home Mission work of the Irish Pres- 
byterian Church in the west of the island, and also to 
procure materials for such an account of our native 
country as would disabuse the minds of Americans of 
the prevailing ignorance and prejudice with regard to 
Ireland. We both were interested in observing the 
fruits of the great work of grace* which had been in 

* The Ulster Awakening began in the parish of Connor, near Ballymena, 
in County Antrim, and in the two villages of Connor and Kells, which lie 
in the centre of the parish. The people are almost all Presbyterians, and 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 121 

progress in Ulster for three years past, and had ex 
tended into other parts of the kingdom. 

Dr. Edgar first took us to the Presbytery of Athlone 
which includes the great home mission-field of the Pres 
byterian Church in the centre and west of Ireland. By 
his admirable arrangements we were enabled to visit and 
to address every congregation of the Presbytery except 
one, and to observe the marked difference in the condi- 
tion of the people of these congregations and their Ro- 
man Catholic neighbors, even as regards such external 
matters as thrift, sobriety, cleanliness, and general pros- 
perity. Dr. Murray preached the dedication sermon at 
the opening of the new Presbyterian church in Athlone, 
the very centre of Ireland. 

the faithful labors of the pastor of that church were largely instrumental 
in the awakening. But its especial occasion appears to have been a " Be- 
lievers' Fellowship Meeting," organized by four young men of the congre- 
gation, to pray that God would bless the preaching of His word in the 
congregation. They began their meetings in a school-house near Connor 
in September, 1857, and continued until December, before there was the 
first dropping of the coming shower of blessing. The good news from 
America in those and the following months seems to have had much in- 
fluence in strengthening the faith and hopes of this little band of Chris- 
tian workers, and it is notable that, before the awakening fairly began or 
had been heard of on our side of the Atlantic, these two villages of Con- 
nor and Kells were prayed for in America at one of the Noon-Day Meet- 
ings, as places for which prayer had especially been requested. Within a 
few months almost every family in the large parish had been visited by 
divine grace. It then spread to the parish of Ahoghill and then around 
Ballymena, and thence to Belfast, the converts from each favored locality 
carrying the work to others by their simple and heartfelt narratives of what 
they had experienced and seen. 

See " The Ulster Awakening," by the Rev. John Weir (London, i860). 
Mr. Weir was my personal friend and correspondent. He long labored 
among the Jewish population of London. 
F II 



122 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

Our return to the north was by way of Dublin, and 
here we were welcomed by the pastor of the old Mary's 
Abbey Presbyterian church, my cousin, Rev. John Hall, 
now no longer in Armagh, but placed in the Irish cap- 
ital as the assistant and successor of the venerable Dr. 
Kirkpatrick. He had left Armagh in 1858 with reluc- 
tance, but yielding to the judgment of friends who 
thought he could be more useful in Dublin. After he 
had been a short time there as assistant-pastor, the old 
church edifice became so crowded that the question of 
building a new one was agitated. Many of the congre- 
gation, especially the younger portion, desired to leave 
the old location, which was in the business part of the 
city ; but the expense of buying a lot and building a 
house in keeping with the resident portion of the city 
was so great that that project was about to be aban- 
doned. At this time Mr. Hall received a note from a 
gentleman largely engaged in business in Dublin, who 
resided some distance from the city, where he attended 
a small church. He said that he was sorry to hear that 
they were to build on the old spot, as it was so far re- 
moved from the residence portion of Dublin; and that 
if they would sell the old church, purchase a suitable 
lot, and get an architect to prepare the plans for a new 
church in keeping with the location, they might send all 
the bills for building and furnishing to himself. The lot 
was secured on Rutland Square, on the corner of which 
now stands the beautiful and imposing Rutland Square 
Presbyterian church. Not long after its dedication it 
was filled with the largest Presbyterian congregation in 
the whole region. 

Dr. Murray preached for Dr. Hall a very appropriate 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART, 1 23 

sermon, and, after the services were brought to close, 
people crowded around the American visitors to ask 
after the welfare of friends in America. One man said 
to Dr. Murray, " Do you know a wee place in America, 
called Missouri ? — for I have a dear friend living there/' 
He was very much surprised to be told that Missouri 
was larger than all Ireland. Our Dublin friends had 
arranged for us a delightful trip to the Wicklow Moun- 
tains, where we spent the greater part of a day on foot, 
exploring the scenery. Dr. Murray, in his intercourse 
with the peasantry, exhibited the peculiar blending of 
wisdom with humor which marked his character, and 
which furnished a perpetual fountain of enjoyment to his 
companions. On the morning of our leaving Dublin we 
were met at breakfast by a large company of ministers 
and laymen, in the house of Mr. Hugh Moore, with 
whom we had been staying. 

Another and a more public breakfast welcomed our 
return to Belfast, the venerable Dr. Henry Cook taking 
the chair. We visited several of the daily prayer-meet- 
ings which had grown out of the revival, and I had the 
honor of laying the corner-stones of two Presbyterian 
churches, which had been necessitated by the increased 
demand for church accommodation. One of these was 
in the famous and much-neglected district called Sandy 
Row ; the other, in Elmwood Avenue, is now one of the 
largest congregations in the Presbytery. 

It was during our stay in Belfast that I declined to 
preside over the largest evangelical religious meeting 
ever held in that country. This was a thanksgiving 
meeting in commemoration of the great Ulster revival 
of 1 85 8-1 860 following the revival that took place in 



124 THE LIFE 0F GEORGE H. STUART. 

this country in 1857. The meeting was held in the 
Botanic Gardens. Business was universally suspended, 
and all the railroads coming into Belfast issued excur- 
sion tickets. At the entrance into the gardens rich and 
poor, ministers as well as others, had to provide them- 
selves with a penny to pay for admission, no change 
being made at the gates. Of course the number of pen- 
nies taken at the gates showed how many there were in 
attendance, and there were more than 40,000 pennies 
taken. The presiding officer was the Rev. Henry Cook, 
D.D., LL.D., the most eloquent Irish preacher of his day. 
He insisted that both Dr. Murray and I should speak. 
To address such an immense audience was no ordinary 
undertaking. I was so anxious to know if I could be 
heard that I got two American friends to stand on the 
outskirts of the throng, and they both reported that they 
heard every word I said. At the end of a talk of less 
than fifteen minutes I sat down completely exhausted. 
The vast assembly was pervaded by the spirit of devo- 
tion, and the greatest order and solemnity prevailed. 
When the multitudes lifted up their voices in singing the 
Hundredth Psalm in the Old Scottish version, 

" All people that on earth do dwell," 

the sound was as the voice of many waters. There were 
fifteen stands to enable the speakers of the evening to be 
heard by the crowds around them. 

Another great out-door meeting which I attended and 
addressed was at Portrush on the extreme northwestern 
corner of County Antrim. Here my dear friend Rev. 
Jonathan Simpson was the pastor, and the neighborhood 
has a situation admirably suited to such assemblies. It 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE II STUART 1 25 

is estimated that between four and five thousand people 
gathered thither, and found seats on the sides of a hill, 
while the stand from which I was to speak was at the 
foot of the hill, with a large stone for a pulpit, under the 
shadow of an overspreading tree. Near this spot was a 
small mud cabin, into which I retired, for comfort and 
warmth. While the preliminary exercises were being 
conducted, the scene was one never to be forgotten, and 
my interest was intensified by the fact that the opening 
prayer was made by my former Sabbath-school boy in 
Philadelphia, John S. Mackintosh. His prayer for his 
former superintendent was so touching and effective that 
it brought tears to my eyes, and enabled me to address 
the vast congregation with increased power. It is not 
strange, therefore, that I have watched Mr. Mackintosh's 
course since his first pastoral charge at Connor, where 
the great Irish revival of 1858 had commenced, and in 
w r hich church during the revival I had spoken myself 
soon after his settlement there. I was delighted to hear 
of his being called to May Street Presbyterian church to 
succeed the late Dr. Henry Cook, one of Ireland's great 
preachers, and since then to succeed Dr. Eiias R. Beadle in 
the historic Second Presbyterian church of Philadelphia. 
Dr. Murray was not with me at Portrush, but we at- 
tended together a public breakfast given in our honor at 
Ballymena, the focus of the revival, where my compan- 
ion preached and addressed an out-door meeting of the 
children of twenty-one Sabbath-schools. As he beheld 
the crowds flocking past the window of the house where 
we were entertained, to the place of meeting, he seemed 
overwhelmed by his sense of the responsibility of ad- 
dressing such a multitude of awakened souls. He 

11* 



126 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H STUART. 

called to me, as I sat in another part of the room, 
" Look here, Mr. Stuart ; this is fearful." He had to 
seek quiet and strength in prayer before he was equal 
to speaking, and then his address was one which many- 
have reason to bless God for their having heard it. In 
his diary he notes, " This is one of the marked Sabbaths 
of my life." 

I cannot tell all that we saw and did during the six 
weeks of our stay in Ireland. Although the time the 
revival had lasted had taken away the excitement of 
novelty, w T e had abundant opportunity of seeing what 
an ingathering of rich harvest had attended the " Year 
of Grace." One of its most remarkable features, to one 
acquainted with the previous condition of the country 
churches, was the revived ministry, with whom the work 
of conversion was the chief topic of conversation on all 
occasions. Religion, indeed, was the great subject of 
public interest, and of conversation in railway cars and 
places of concourse. We often saw walls placarded with 
texts of Scripture, and the stands at railway-stations filled 
with religious books. I pass over Londonderry and Lur- 
gan and other places, only noting that I had the oppor- 
tunity of speaking to my old friends and neighbors in 
Donacloney meeting-house, where Mr. Morehead and 
his people gave me the kindest welcome. I may note 
that during those six weeks we spent but three nights in 
hotels, and those were at the Lakes of Killarney and the 
Giants' Causeway. 

From Ireland we proceeded to England, after address- 
ing a joint letter of thanks to our hospitable entertainers 
in the land of our birth. We held meetings in behalf of 
the Evangelical Alliance in Manchester and Brighton, 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H STUART \2J 

and then made a hasty trip to Paris, before sailing for 
home from Havre by the Adriatic. I find by the memo- 
randa in my diary that I made seventy-four addresses 
during this trip, speaking in all fifty hours and fifty-three 
minutes, to over seventy-five thousand people. 

Dr. Prime, in his " Life of Dr. Murray," says that 
" during his visit to Ireland, amid scenes of revival, he 
received a new baptism of the Spirit, and returned home 
with a burning desire to see among his own people, and 
in this country, the word of God glorified as it was in 
Ireland and Wales." But he was not long spared to us. 
He died February 4, 1861, in his fifty-ninth year, amid 
all the painful political uncertainties which attended the 
expiring hours of President Buchanan's administration. 
In one of the last conversations I had with him, he 
read me an extract from a sermon he had preached on 
the occasion of the Fast-day proclaimed by President 
Buchanan, protesting against the continued encroach- 
ment of the slave-holding power, the growth of a sedi- 
tious spirit among the politicians of the South, and 
the cowardly relinquishment of free discussion by the 
churches and people of the North. 

In October of this year I presided at one of the last 
meetings of our Philadelphia Sabbath-School Associa- 
tion, and gave them some account of the Ragged-School 
work in London, begun by Lord Shaftesbury in 1844, 
and also of the blessings received by the children of Ul- 
ster in the great revival. I noted that the confidence of 
the churches in the work of the Sabbath-school had been 
greatly strengthened by observing that in a great multi- 
tude of cases the first impression received by the con- 
verts had been in the Sabbath-school. 



CHAPTER VI. 

The Demands made by the War on the Young Men's Christian Associa- 
tions — Their Convention founds the Christian Commission — Previous 
Workers in the Army — Members and Officers — Letter of Abraham 
Lincoln — Work of the Delegates — Generous Response to Demands for 
Funds — Getting Ice at Saratoga — Praying with John Minor Botts — 
Bishop Mcllvaine Presides at Epiphany and Visits the Front — Pitts- 
burg Meeting — Address to the General Assembly at Newark — In Dan- 
ger of being Shot at Camp Convalescent — News at Troy Meeting from 
Appomattox — " Housewives" for the Soldiers — Chapel Tents — Coffee- 
Wagon — " Identifiers" — Incidents and Results — Final Meeting. 

The great revivals which had preceded our Civil War 
had prepared many of the young men of the country to 
carry their religion with them into the camp when Presi- 
dent Lincoln issued his proclamation for seventy-five 
thousand men on the 15th of April, 1861. The late Mr. 
Vincent Collyer in New York, Mr. George S. Griffith in 
Baltimore, and Mr. William Ballentine, connected with 
the Washington Young Men's Christian Association, 
were early in the field supplying the soldiers with relig- 
ious reading on their way to and after their arrival in 
Washington. The associations in Chicago and Phila- 
delphia had also done something in this direction ; but, * 
up to the organization of the Christian Commission, 
November 15, 1861, there had been no united effort 
to look after the spiritual interests of our soldiers, al- 
though the Sanitary Commission was early organized to 
look after their temporal interests. While we desired 
128 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 1 29 

mainly to reach and help the men spiritually, we also 
looked after their temporal welfare, realizing, as I 
once said to a prominent gentleman (who wished the 
Christian Commission to confine its efforts entirely to 
spiritual matters, leaving the temporal welfare of the 
soldiers to the Sanitary Commission), that " there is a 
good deal of religion in a warm shirt and a good beef- 
steak." 

The first Christian man known to have left his home 
to look after the spiritual as well as the temporal interests 
of the soldiers was the late Mr. John Patterson, an hum- 
ble Irish painter, who left his home in Philadelphia April 
22, 1 861, and proceeded to the army at his own prompt- 
ing and his own expense. Finding our soldiers at Havre 
de Grace suffering from exposure and asking especially 
for straw, he sent the request to Philadelphia ; and not 
only a supply of straw, but blankets, mattresses, and 
other necessaries were immediately forwarded. My friend 
Rev. B. W. Chidlaw of Ohio was also an early and inde- 
pendent worker in behalf of our soldiers, and so was 
Mr. G. S. Griffith of Baltimore. 

It was in view of the needs thus met in a sporadic way 
that the International Committee of the Young Men's 
Christian Association, of which I was chairman and Mr. 
John Wanamaker secretary, decided to summon an in- 
formal convention of the American Associations to meet 
in New York on the 14th of November, 1861. We did 
so at the suggestion of Mr. Vincent Collyer, who had 
been laboring among the soldiers enlisted in New 
York City or passing through it on their way to the 
front. As the enlistments were depleting our Associa- 
tions of their members, and removing them from the 



130 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART, 

influences for good which we were trying to bring around 
them, we felt that we should make some effort to follow 
them to the front, not only with our prayers, but by 
personal efforts to supply their needs both spiritual and 
temporal. 

This extraordinary Young Men's Christian Associa- 
tion Convention, over which I presided, — as also over the 
Annual Convention at Troy in 1858, — was in session for 
two days, and was one of unusual interest and solemnity. 
A committee appointed to prepare and present business 
for its action — the members being Messrs. Demond, 
Vernon, Wanamaker, Maniere, Baird, Collyer, and my- 
self — reported the following resolution, which was adopted 
unanimously : 

"That it is the duty of the Young Men's Christian Association 
to take active measures to promote the spiritual and temporal 
welfare of the soldiers in the army and the sailors and marines in 
the navy, in co-operation with the chaplains and others. 

"Also that a Christian Commission, consisting of twelve mem- 
bers, who shall serve gratuitously and who may fill their own 
vacancies, be appointed to take charge of the whole work." 

The twelve original members of the Commission were 
the Rev. Rollin H. Neale, D.D., and Mr. Charles Demond, 
of Boston ; Dr. John D. Hill, of Buffalo ; Mr. John V. 
Farwell, of Chicago ; Rev. M. L. R. P. Thompson and 
Mr. H. Thane Miller, of Cincinnati ; Rev. S. H. Tyng, 
D.D., Mr. Benjamin F. Maniere, and Rev. Edmund S. 
Janes, D.D., of New York ; George H. Stuart and Mr. 
John P. Crozier, of Philadelphia ; and Mr. Mitchell H. 
Miller, of Washington. When these gentlemen met to 
organize, Bishop Janes proposed that I be made the 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 131 

president or chairman of the Commission. I tried to 
avoid this appointment, as my health was not such as to 
warrant my undertaking it. Had we been able to foresee 
the extent of the work on which we were entering, I 
probably would have been more emphatic in my resist- 
ance, which was overcome by my colleagues. By their 
act I was thus chosen to the most important position I 
ever filled, and was introduced to what I ever since have 
regarded as the great work of my life. 

Several of the original members, of the Commission 
found themselves for various reasons unable to perform 
the duties it required of them, and these resigned, but in 
no case with any loss or diminution of interest in the 
work. Their places were filled by others, so that in all 
forty-seven gentlemen were members of the Commission 
from first to last. Of these I cannot forbear naming 
Bishop Mcllvaine of Ohio and Dr. Charles Hodge of 
Princeton. There were similar changes among the offi- 
cers and members of the Executive Committee. Thus, 
the Rev. William E. Boardman was our faithful Home 
Secretary through the greater part of the Commission's 
existence, and did a grand work for the cause. At the 
close of the work the officers stood : "George H. Stuart, 
Chairman; Joseph Patterson, Treasurer; Rev. Lemuel 
Moss, Home Secretary ; Rev. 'Edward P. Smith, Field 
Secretary. Executive Committee : George H. Stuart, 
Chairman ; Stephen Colwell, John P. Crozier, Jay Cooke, 
Horatio Gates Jones, Joseph Patterson, and Rev. Bishop 
Matthew Simpson, of Philadelphia ; William E. Dodge, V 
Rev. Bishop E. S. Janes, D.D., and Rev. Heman Dyer, 
D.D., of New York ; Charles Demond, of Boston ; Wil- 
liam Frew, of Pittsburg; George S. Griffith, of Balti- 



I32 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H STUART. 

more ; W. J. Griffith, of Brooklyn ; John V. Farwell, of 
Chicago ; and General Clinton B. Fisk, of St. Louis. 

The Commission had its office originally in New York, 
but it did not meet there with the success which it an- 
ticipated ; and the executive committee caused the office 
to be removed to Philadelphia, where I gave them the 
use of a large warehouse which I then owned, with a 
counting-room for secretaries and clerks. This they 
continued to occupy until the close of the war. Some 
time after the removal of the office to Philadelphia, and 
when the work was taking hold of the public at large, 
our New York friends organized an " army committee" 
to co-operate with us, and of this committee Dr. Nathan 
-Bishop was the efficient chairman. In connection with 
the late William E. Dodge and others, Mr. Bishop or- 
ganized and maintained during the closing years of the 
war one of our most efficient auxiliaries. 

Soon after the organization of the Commission a sec- 
ond meeting was held in the city of Washington on the 
10th and nth of December. During this session of the 
Commission opportunity was given for conference with 
President Lincoln, General Simon Cameron, the Secre- 
tary of War, and General McClellan, the Commander- 
in-Chief, all of whom, on learning of our organization 
and our proposed work, gave us their most cordial 
and hearty endorsement. In answer to my official com- 
munication to these various officers, they all sent replies 
which appear in the Annals of the Christian Coimnission, 
on page 109. That of the President I give in full. I 
still have the letter, for which I have been offered one 
thousand dollars, as it is in the President's handwriting 
throughout. 



Wa^y^.A^^.M, , 



^4w &OZ, of £& //%* J^P a^ 
(^n^tA-e-T^ce^uZ? yv^crryCo crj CL^y*s*ji_c^C^~e f^£-L-, jUs^C^tj jL^fZa^s ^kSl~~j 

POyg^e^csO erf fi-fu^J-^J J ^c^c^t^ s&f^ A^ru^ fUU~sQ^ 






THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 1 33 

Executive Mansion, Dec. 12, 1861. 
Rev. and Dear Sir, — 

Your letter of the eleventh inst. and accompanying plan, both 
of which are returned as a convenient mode of connecting this 
with them, have just been received. Your Christian and benevo- 
lent undertaking for the benefit of the soldiers is too obviously 
proper and praise-worthy to admit any difference of opinion. I 
sincerely hope your plan may be as successful in execution as it 
is just and generous in conception. 

Your obedient servant, 

A. Lincoln. 

I may here add that we subsequently received the en- 
dorsement and earnest co-operation of all the officials at 
Washington and of the generals (Sherman, Meade, and 
others) commanding the various armies ; and particularly 
that of General Grant, who on all occasions did every- 
thing in his power to aid us in ministering to the tem- 
poral and spiritual wants of our soldiers, sometimes 
stretching his authority in our favor. I cannot omit to 
mention General Patrick's valuable service in his depart- 
ment. 

On the 13th of January, 1862, the executive committee 
of the Commission issued an address to the public, set- 
ting forth the great needs of the army and the work 
which had been committed to our care. The address 
stated that at that time there were seven hundred thou- 
sand men in the arrny and navy who had left the com- 
forts of home to endure hardship, and it might be to 
die, to save the country from dismemberment, and it 
appealed to the public for means to minister to their 
temporal and spiritual welfare. It was on the 14th of 
May, 1862, that our first delegate was commissioned, 
and our especial work fairly begun. 



134 - THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

As the association which we had formed was without 
a parallel in history, we had no precedent to guide us in 
the organization of our work, and had to meet emergen- 
cies as they occurred, letting our work shape and mould 
itself under the providence of God. We were hampered 
at first by the prevalent feeling that sufficient agencies 
already existed for doing such a work as we contem- 
plated ; but this rapidly gave way to the conviction that 
there was room for our organization as well as for the 
national and State organizations already in the field ; and, 
towards the close of the war, there was no organization 
which had a stronger hold on the hearts of the people 
than ours. In due time we matured plans and direc- 
tions to govern the delegates who — after being commis- 
sioned either from the central office or our branch 
offices, which had been organized in all the large cities 
of the North — were sent to the front. These directions 
gave them full instructions with reference to the work 
which it was desirable for them to undertake among our 
soldiers and sailors ; and were printed in neat memo- 
randum-books, w r ith a large number of blank pages on 
which to make entries for their own use, but especially 
for the purpose of writing down the names of the sol- 
diers to whom they ministered, and their nearest rela- 
tives' addresses. When on the battle-field or in the hos- 
pital, it was made the first duty of the delegate to attend 
to the man's most pressing temporal wants, — to do which 
he was supplied with ample stores, — and next to admin- 
ister to him spiritual comfort. 

We had three classes of delegates, — one for the camp, 
one for the hospital, and one for the battle-field, — all 
Christian men, who were to spend six weeks, without 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 1 35 

compensation, caring for the sick and wounded, aiding 
chaplains in preaching the Gospel, holding prayer-meet- 
ings, and in general helping chaplains and officers. They 
were abundantly supplied with Bibles, Testaments, relig- 
ious newspapers, tracts, and other publications. The 
third class of delegates were called minute-men, and had 
to sign a paper holding themselves in readiness at five 
minutes' notice to proceed to any battle-field, however 
distant it might be. In some instances ministers en- 
rolled in this latter class were, while preaching a sermon, 
notified that their services were required, and speedily 
closed their services to comply with the call that had 
been made upon them. I recall the case of a city pastor 
( Rev. A. G. McAuley) who received a notice to proceed 
to Nashville. His wife being out at the time he received 
the notice, he was about to leave without being able to 
say good-by to her, when she met him at the door, satchel 
in hand. All the railroads we applied to, endorsed the 
printed commission we gave to our delegates, and thus 
furnished them with transportation free of charge. They 
also passed all our stores and publications free. In one 
case a railroad company detained their train for about 
half an hour in order to carry supplies, which were 
greatly needed, to their destination, that being Harper's 
Ferry. In another case a train leaving Baltimore with 
its full complement of cars, at the earnest solicitation of 
one of our delegates consented to take some cars of ours 
loaded with supplies. 

I may here add that all the telegraph lines in the 
country were placed at our disposal free of charge, so 
that when a despatch, how r ever long, bore my signature 
as chairman it was marked D. H. (dead head). We were 



136 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

often obliged to use these wires in great emergencies to 
raise money ; as in the case of the Battle of Gettysburg, 
when I found that our treasury was largely overdrawn, 
while over twenty thousand wounded soldiers of both 
armies had been left on the battle-field, .to whom we 
speedily sent three hundred and fifty-six delegates with 
nearly a hundred thousand dollars' worth of stores. Be- 
fore starting for the field myself, I drew up a long des- 
patch, to be sent to the leading cities, stating the facts 
and asking for the privilege of drawing for different 
amounts. Boston I asked for ten thousand dollars ; and 
the response came back the same day, " Draw for sixty 
thousand !" I may here state how this large sum was 
so speedily secured. My friends E. S. Tobey and the 
late Charles Demond went at once to the Merchants' 
Exchange, where my despatch was read publicly, and 
immediately the prices of stocks on the blackboard were 
removed and my despatch placed there in full, with a 
note at the bottom stating that Mr. Demond and Mr. 
Tobey would occupy certain desks in the large room, at 
which the merchants might hand in their contributions. 
Two lines were immediately formed, and the money or 
pledges were handed in faster than they could be taken. 
I afterwards had to visit the Exchange and make a 
speech expressing my thanks for the noble contribution 
so promptly made. I learned that a member of the 
Exchange who had always ordered his dinner to be on 
the table at a certain hour, for the first time in his life 
came home late on the day that my despatch was posted, 
causing much anxiety to his family. 

At a time when the country was filled with distress 
and indignation by the reports of the ill treatment of 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 1 37 

our soldiers in the military prisons of the Confederacy, 
the Commission appointed Bishops Mcllvaine, Lee, and 
Jayne, along with Mr. Horatio Gates Jones and myself, 
a committee to visit our prisoners in the South, if the 
way were found open. President Lincoln and General 
Grant furnished us with letters to the Confederate au- 
thorities, in which our purpose was described as simply 
one of relief, and assurance was given that no publicity 
would be given to any facts of which there seemed 
reason to complain. It also was said that a similar dele- 
gation from the South would be given permission to 
visit the military prisons of the North, and to do for 
their prisoners, if that were found needful, all that we 
purposed doing in the South. Bishops Lee and Jayne 
and Mr. Jones proceeded with these credentials to the 
place where exchange of prisoners was effected, and the 
letters were forwarded by the officers in charge to the 
authorities in Richmond, but they declined to allow the 
committee to enter their lines. 

No language of mine can express the readiness and 
the liberality of the response made to our appeals on the 
part of the entire northern population, including the 
children as well as the women and men. Did space 
permit, I might fill a volume with special instances of 
personal sacrifice made in behalf of the noble men who 
were fighting the battles of our country. Let me give a 
few instances, which might be multiplied tenfold. At the 
close of a public meeting in Michigan, after a collection 
was taken up and the baskets laid in front of the pulpit, 
a young lady was seen to leave her seat and approach 
the basket two or three times, and finally she pulled from 
her finger the engagement-ring given her by her lover, 

12* 



138 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H STUART. 

who was a soldier in the army, and threw it into the bas- 
ket. In an Episcopal church in Philadelphia a diamond 
ring was found in the collection-box, which I sold for five 
hundred dollars, yet, after the sale, had the privilege of 
presenting to Mrs. General Grant. In many cases gifts of 
this nature were sold over and over again, being purchased 
by men of means and then reconsecrated to the cause. 

On one occasion I received an invitation from an emi- 
nent lady, who had given three sons to fight the battles 
of their country and who had been reduced from affluent 
circumstances to comparative poverty, to call upon her 
at her boarding-house in Philadelphia. I called, in com- 
pany with Rev. Dr. Patterson of Chicago, and, on ring- 
ing the bell, was told by the servant that I could not see 
the lady, as the dead body of one of her sons, who had 
been killed in Mississippi, had just been brought to the 
house. I insisted, however, on sending my card upstairs, 
and was invited to come up and see the lady. I found 
her reclining on a sofa, and she asked me to open her 
wardrobe and take down a large box which it contained. 
On opening this box I found a very handsome India 
shawl. She said to me, " I want you to take this shawl 
and sell it and apply the proceeds to the relief of our 
suffering soldiers." To this I replied, " You have already 
made a large contribution to the cause of our country in 
the gift of your three sons, one of whom is now waiting 
burial beneath this roof." She rose at once from her 
sofa, and exclaimed, *' No, sir, I have made no sacrifice 
worthy of the name. My country is entitled to all that 
I can give, and if I were younger I would give myself." 
This shawl was disposed of for a large sum, for the 
benefit of our treasury. 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE II. STUART. 1 39 

After I had made a speech in a leading Episcopal 
church in Brooklyn, a handsome pair of gold bracelets 
were found in the collection-box. In a collection taken 
in Dr. Shaw's church in Rochester we found a pair 
of gold-bowed spectacles. A very old women on her 
death-bed, in the northern part of New York State, be- 
queathed to us a necklace which she had worn for nearly 
all her life, and which was a somewhat remarkable one. 
I purchased the gift at its full value, and hold it still, as 
one of my many mementos of the war. 

Let me close this branch of my subject by giving one 
of the most remarkable instances of this nature that oc- 
curred during the war. The gift to which I refer came 
from a poor sewing-woman, a native of America living 
in England, and was enclosed in the following letter ad- 
dressed to President Lincoln. 

Dear President, — 

I hope you will pardon me for troubling you. Ohio is my native 
State, and I so much wish to send a trifle in the shape of a five- 
pound Bank of England note, to buy Bibles for the poor wounded 
soldiers of the North, which I hope they may read. 

Yours respectfully, 

Mary Talbot Sorby. 
flrcliff, darbydale, derbyshire, england. 

On receiving this five-pound note, President Lincoln 
said to Mr. Hay, his private secretary, " You had better 
send this contribution with a note to the President of the 
Christian Commission. " I have the original five-pound 
note and the original letter in my possession, having 
purchased the note at its gold value ; but not until I had 
sold it over and over again, realizing from its repeated 



I40 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

sales about a hundred thousand dollars. The first person 
I sold it to was Mr. Jay Cooke, who gave me five thou- 
sand dollars for it ; but I told him he could not have the 
note, for it was worth a good deal more to me. 

In July of 1863 there was a meeting of the members 
of the Commission at Saratoga Springs. One morning 
I received a telegram from an officer of the navy en- 
gaged in besieging Charleston, saying, " For God's sake 
send us a cargo of ice, as our men are dying for want of 
cooling drinks. ,, I read the telegram to Mr. Tobey and 
Mr. Demond of Boston, while we stood in the office of 
the Congress Hall hotel, and while the dinner-room was 
filling with the guests at the dining-hour. I remarked 
that it was hard that while we were enjoying cooling and 
refreshing drinks, our men who had exposed their lives 
for the defence of the country should suffer and die for 
want of what was so abundant here. As our funds were 
very low, I suggested that I should make an appeal at 
the dinner-table for money to buy what was needed. 
They both thought it was neither the time nor the place 
for such an appeal. However, I had learned from the 
Apostle to be instant out of season as well as in season, 
so I applied to the proprietor for permission. He also 
was of the opinion of my friends, yet he instructed the 
head-waiter to place a chair for me in the centre of the 
long dining-room, before he brought in the dessert. 
When I stood up on it, the noise was so great that it 
seemed impossible I should be heard. I held up the 
telegram, and asked in a loud voice if they, wanted to 
hear from Charleston. As the operations against that 
city were occupying a very prominent place in public 
attention, and people were looking every hour for its 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 141 

surrender to our naval forces, this commanded a hearing 
at once. The vast dining-room was suddenly hushed, 
and a waiter who was noisily removing plates was com- 
manded to be quiet. All ears were open to my news. 
When I read the despatch asking for ice, there was a 
laugh. I added that those who wished to help to have 
it sent might step to the clerk's office and hand in their 
subscriptions. Without waiting for any dessert, the 
guests thronged to the office, and the contributions 
began to pour in. 

Encouraged by this, I went over to the Union Hotel, 
and told the proprietor what had been done at Congress 
Hall. He aL once took me into his large dining-room, 
and without waiting for any ceremony I stood up on a 
chair and made my appeal for money to buy ice for our 
men before Charleston. Some one moved that Deacon 
W. J. King of Providence be appointed treasurer to re- 
ceive the contributions of the guests. I left the matter 
in his hands, and hastened to the United States Hotel, 
where I found the guests just assembling for dinner. 
Among them was Governor Seymour, who kindly intro- 
duced me to the company in the dining-room. The 
first contribution was five hundred dollars from a promi- 
nent merchant of New York City. After these three 
appeals we had enough to warrant us in going for- 
ward, and Messrs. Tobey and Demond telegraphed to 
Boston to have a vessel chartered for Charleston, and 
loaded with ice, lemons, and other materials for making 
cooling drinks. Within a day or so the vessel was on 
her way, with her cargo of refreshment for our suffering 
men. 

Deacon King afterwards told me that when I read the 



142 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

telegram and made my appeal at the Union Hotel, a 
stranger who sat near him at the table wanted to know 
if that chap had not some ice to sell. My acquaintance 
with Mr. King began with this day, and he became one 
of my dearest friends, as well as a zealous supporter of 
our Commission. I stayed at his house while visiting 
Providence to address a great meeting in its behalf, and 
had the privilege of dining with the venerable Dr. Way- 
land, the president of Brown University. 

Among the distinguished men who accompanied me 
on a visit to the army in the spring of 1 864 was the Rev. 
Dr. E. N. Kirk of Boston, who delivered many addresses 
to the soldiers. I shall never forget the sermon he 
preached at General Meade's headquarters, where there 
were many distinguished officers of the army in his 
crowded congregation. His text on the occasion, " Go 
to, now, ye that are men, and serve the Lord," was sin- 
gularly appropriate, and the sermon was worthy of the 
text and the audience. 

While we were visiting one of the camps, we found 
ourselves near the residence of John Minor Botts, the 
eminent Virginia politician, who, though living in his 
native State, stood by our flag all through the war. A 
party of us made him a visit to express our thanks for 
what he had done to save the country. During our visit 
he took us to one of his windows, and, pointing to an 
adjacent field, said that on that field he had seen nine 
battles, and yet amid all these contests around his house 
his life had been preserved. When we were about leav- 
ing I addressed a few words to my companions, referring 
to the trials through which Mr. Botts had been called 
to pass, and then called upon Dr. Kirk to offer prayer. 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 1 43 

Immediately the whole party fell upon their knees with 
the single exception of Mr. Botts. As I was next to him 
I found him still standing after I had knelt down ; but 
when he looked around on the strange sight he finally 
followed our example. Dr. Kirk's prayer in his behalf 
was so earnest and so touching that when Mr. Botts 
arose from his knees he seemed deeply affected and 
thanked us warmly for our visit. I was asked afterwards 
if it was true that I got Mr. Botts upon his knees, and 
was told that I was the only person who had ever 
done so. 

During this trip our attention was called to a high 
platform which had been erected by our army to observe 
the movements of the enemy. We ascended this plat- 
form, where we had a full view of both armies, and there 
held a short but blessed prayer-meeting for the success 
of our arms, the overthrow of the Rebellion, and the 
welfare of the soldiers of both armies. 

On our return north, Dr. Kirk said to me, on reaching 
my house in Philadelphia, " Mr. Stuart, the Christians 
of our country have no conception of the grand oppor- 
tunity offered to ministers and others to preach the 
Gospel to the soldiers of our army, who seem to drink 
in every word as I have never seen men do before." I 
will remain a day with you if you will gather the pastors 
of Philadelphia together to-morrow, and talk to them on 
the subject." By the aid of messenger-boys I invited 
many of the leading pastors to meet the next day (April 
14) at the office of the Commission, and, short as the 
notice was, a large number responded to our invitation. 
The venerable Dr. Kennard, of the Baptist church, pre- 
sided over the meeting, and, after the introductory exer- 



144 THE LJ FE OF GEORGE II. STUART. 

cises, Dr. Kirk told of the experience he had had in 
preaching in camp and hospital, and closed by declaring, 
" You ministers have no idea of the magnitude of the 
work which the Christian Commission is doing. If it 
were generally known, the contributions would be very 
largely increased. ,, As a result of this I was requested 
at an early date to call a special public meeting in Phila- 
delphia, and to invite Dr. Kirk and others to address it. 
Being unable to secure any of our large halls, I was 
kindly offered the use of the Church of the Epiphany, 
one of the largest in the city. I at once telegraphed to 
Cincinnati, inviting Bishop Mcllvaine to preside over the 
proposed meeting, to which request he promptly replied 
that he would come. 

The church was crowded to the doors on the occasion 
of the meeting, and the audience included many of our 
leading citizens. In the vestry of the church, where 
Bishop Mcllvaine and the Rector, Rev. Dr. Newton, and 
others were assembled, I said to Dr. Newton that we 
wanted to raise fifty thousand dollars at this meeting. 
He said it would be impossible to raise that amount, and 
I said I would not bring Bishop Mcllvaine from Ohio for 
a less sum. Dr. Newton replied, " Then, Mr. Stuart, you 
must make the appeal for money. ,, At the close of the 
speeches by Bishop Mcllvaine, Dr. Kirk, and Dr. Duryea, 
Dr. Newton said that he had the pleasure of introducing 
me to the audience to make an appeal for the collection. 
Addressing the honored Bishop in the chair, I said to 
him, " You are an Episcopalian and I am a Presbyterian, 
but the fact is neither of our Churches understand rais- 
ing money like our brethren of the Methodist Church, 
and, with your permission, I will turn this vast congre- 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 145 

gation into a Methodist meeting and call upon my friend 
here to take down the names that I shall call out." Look- 
ing over the audience, I said to my friend John P. Crozer, 
" Shall I put you down for five thousand dollars ?' " Cer- 
tainly," said he. I went on with this sum, appealing to 
men of various denominations, until I had reached thirty- 
five thousand dollars. One of these subscriptions (the 
last) was from Captain Loper, who sent me a despatch 
from the dying bed of a member of his family in New 
York, through my friend Jay Cooke, to add himself to 
those who contributed five thousand. All these who 
were ready to pledge this sum I had known of before the 
meeting was assembled, but I had not informed Dr. 
Newton of the fact. Failing to get any more five-thou- 
sand-dollar subscriptions, I reduced the amount of the 
pledges, and soon the subscription reached forty-two 
thousand five hundred dollars. At this point, the hour 
being very late, Dr. Newton suggested to me to send the 
collection-boxes around ; to which I replied, " I have no 
faith in these boxes, and must wait for some more 
pledges." At this point a colonel in the army (Colonel 
Gregory), in full uniform, arose in his place near the door, 
and said, " Ladies and gentlemen, if you had been present 
at the last battle in which my regiment was engaged, and 
where I lost nearly half my men, and seen the work that 
delegates of the Commission did among my wounded and 
dying, you would soon make up the balance of the 
amount Mr. Stuart asks for." As soon as he took his 
seat a young merchant who was not very rich, but who 
had already pledged a thousand dollars, arose in his 
place and said that that speech was worth another thou- 
sand. Others following his example, the whole amount 

G k 13 



I46 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H STUART. 

that I had asked for was soon raised. At a late hour the 
vast congregation rose to their feet, sung the long-metre 
doxology, and received the benediction from the vener- 
able Bishop, who had come all the way from Cincinnati 
especially to preside on this occasion. 

Hoping for good results from this meeting, I had 
secured the attendance of a special reporter, who pre- 
pared a despatch for the Associated Press, so that our 
proceedings and the results of the meeting were pub- 
lished the next morning in the daily papers from Maine 
to California. The impetus thus given created a new 
interest in the work of the Christian Commission all 
over the country, and the very next day, while Dr. Kirk 
was still my guest, a telegram came from my friend Mr. 
Albree, of Pittsburg, on behalf of the committee in that 
city, stating that, if I would come there next Sabbath 
and bring a good speaker with me, they would give me a 
collection of five thousand dollars. To which I replied, 
" No, I can't travel seven hundred miles for five thou- 
sand dollars, a sum which I can get in five minutes in 
Philadelphia ; but I will go for twenty thousand." The 
response came back the next day, " Come." I was un- 
successful in securing either of the men — Rev. Robert 
J. Parvin and George J. Mingins — whom I desired to 
accompany me, and, although suffering from a severe 
attack of asthma, I left for Pittsburg, spending a night 
on the way with my friend Mr. Weir, of Harrisburg, who 
the night I arrived extemporized a meeting which filleS 
one of their largest churches and was presided over by 
the Governor of the State. Here we received a large 
collection. On Saturday afternoon the Pittsburg com- 
mittee called upon me at the Monongahela House, and 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 1 47 

were anxious to know what I meant by my despatch, to 
which I replied that I thought I had made it plain. 
"Yes/* they said, "but twenty thousand dollars here 
would be out of proportion to the fifty -thousand collec- 
tion in Philadelphia;" and they concluded by saying, 
" If you make a good speech we will give you ten thou- 
sand dollars," to which I replied, " Had I known that 
that was your ultimatum I should not have come, as my 
time is too precious to come all the way from Phila- 
delphia to Pittsburg for ten thousand dollars." At this 
point Major Frew, one of the committee, replied, saying, 
" Mr. Stuart, when you get nineteen thousand dollars 
subscribed at our meeting to-morrow night, I will make 
it twenty." Other members of the committee made con- 
ditional pledges, amounting in all to sixty-five hundred 
dollars. 

The Sabbath (May 7, 1864) proved one of the most 
exciting days that I had witnessed during the war, as it 
was the Sunday succeeding the great Battle of the Wil- 
derness, and, Sabbath as it was, the Sabbath-loving peo- 
ple of Pittsburg crowded around the bulletin-boards as 
the news was flashed along the wires announcing the 
death of some of Pittsburg's noblest sons. According 
to prearrangement, all the churches had given up their 
evening meeting (except a new church that was to be 
dedicated), so as to allow their people to attend the 
meeting in behalf of our Commission, which was to be 
held in the First Presbyterian church, of which Dr. 
Paxton was the pastor. As the evening was mild and 
the weather clear, the church was not only crowded to 
excess, but the adjoining yard around the church was 
filled with eager listeners, the windows being opened to 



148 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

permit them to hear. After speaking some two hours 
and telling the story of my telegraphic communication 
with the Pittsburg committee, I asked Dr. Paxton, Dr. 
Howard, Dr. Wilson, and some others to take the floor 
and raise the sum which I had named, as I was com- 
pletely exhausted. They all declined, and told me that 
I must finish the work. I thereupon turned the great 
Presbyterian meeting-house, with its crowded congrega- 
tion, into a Methodist church, and called upon one of 
my friends to take down the pledges I was about to 
secure. I commenced the subscription list for twenty 
thousand dollars with my friend Major Frew, who at 
this point rose to his feet, and, being slow of speech, 
explained his promise of a thousand dollars after I had 
secured nineteen thousand, and, to my astonishment, 
added, " I now rise to withdraw that pledge." Feeling 
that I had said something to offend him, I asked Dr. 
Paxton when the next train started for Philadelphia; 
but, before receiving an answer, the major said, " Since 
I made that pledge yesterday to Mr. Stuart, our friend 
Mrs. Hayes [the wife of General Hayes, who was killed 
in the Battle of the Wilderness], I learn, has given her 
husband to the country. If she can afford to give her 
husband to save the flag of her country, I can afford 
to make my subscription five thousand dollars. " Soon 
the subscriptions ran up to twenty-two thousand dol- 
lars ; and I said, " Although I fixed the sum at twenty 
thousand dollars, we cannot deprive others of the 
privilege of increasing the amount." That night and 
the next morning it reached over forty-four thousand 
dollars. 

Before the venerable Bishop Mcllvaine returned to the 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H STUART. 149 

West on this occasion, I had the pleasure of taking him 
to the front, that he might see for himself the work we 
were doing for the soldiers. The bishop had long de- 
sired to see our work on the field, but his family felt 
unwilling to have him expose himself to the hardships 
and dangers incident to such a visit. Thev now con- 
sented that he should go in my company. I took with 
us my faithful friend, Mr. John Patterson, to look after 
the bishop, and also my brother David and his son from 
Liverpool, who were in this country and wished to join 
our party. Our visit occurred soon after the Battle of 
Fredericksburg, and, when Mr. Patterson had secured 
cavalry horses for our whole party of seven, we started 
on horseback from the banks of the Potomac for Fred- 
ericksburg. Before starting, an officer informed me that 
on our way we were likely to meet some fifteen hundred 
prisoners that had been captured by General Burnside a 
day or two before. Keeping a lookout for these pris- 
oners I rode up a hill in advance of our party, and on 
the top of the hill I discovered in the valley below a 
great crowd, which I found, on riding up to them, to be 
the company which we had been expecting to meet. On 
approaching them I addressed one of our officers who 
had them in charge, and asked if he would not like to 
have the men drawn up in a hollow square for the pur- 
pose of holding a short religious service with them. He 
consented as soon as I told him that the preacher on 
this occasion would be Bishop Mcllvaine, w r ho was then 
coming down the hill on horseback. By the time he 
arrived, I already had addressed a few words to the pris- 
oners, expressing our sympathy with them, and asking 
them if they had ever heard of Bishop Mcllvaine, of 

13* 



ISO THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

Ohio ; and the cry went up, " Yes, often." " Now," said 
I, " I have the pleasure of introducing him to you ; and, 
if agreeable, take off your hats, and he will preach you 
a short sermon," — a proposition which called forth loud 
expressions of satisfaction from these unfortunate fellows. 
The bishop then turned to me and asked me where the 
pulpit was. I said to him, " You are now sitting in one 
of the grandest pulpits you ever occupied. You can 
preach Christ under circumstances more like those in 
which the Master preached than you have ever enjoyed 
before or may ever have again." Then turning to the 
soldiers, I asked them if they could sing without a book 
the familiar hymn " All hail the power of Jesus' name !" 
They responded, with a loud voice, " Yes." One of my 
companions on horseback, a New York merchant who 
was a good singer, started the hymn, and it was sung as 
I never heard it sung before or since. After this the 
good bishop asked me to offer a word of prayer, which 
I did from my saddle; and then, from his saddle, he 
preached such a sermon as I have seldom if ever heard, 
bringing tears to the eyes of many of the prisoners who 
stood before him. It was a scene which no human pen 
could describe, no painter picture. 

On reaching Fredericksburg we found that the town 
was deserted by its citizens, and every house filled with 
wounded and dying soldiers, many of whom I visited in 
company with our good bishop, who at times was so 
affected that he was unable to restrain his feelings. I can 
see him now, in that splendid private mansion on the 
beautiful hill overlooking the town, talking to our 
wounded men on the veranda, in the parlors, the kitchen, 
the dining-room, and the chambers upstairs until we 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H STUART. 1 5 I 

reached the garret, on the floors of which, among other 
soldiers, lay a poor dying Indian, and the only English 
word that he seemed to understand was the name of 
Jesus. To see the venerable bishop go down on his 
knees, with his hands on either side of this poor dying 
soldier, and pray that the blood of Jesus might wash 
away his sins, was a sight I shall never forget. No 
wonder that he said to me, " Stuart, I must retire. This 
is too much for my feeble frame." 

We had many delegates in Fredericksburg at the time, 
and the house which w r e occupied as our head-quarters 
had a large veranda on the rear, from which, in the early 
morning, Bishop Mcllyaine conducted family worship 
before the delegates separated to go to the various hos- 
pitals and other fields of labor around the town. During 
our brief visit to one of the factories which was occupied 
as a hospital, we found a number of persons gathered 
around the cot of a soldier who was near his end, with- 
out a hope in Christ, and begging for our prayers in his 
behalf. The bishop joined the group, and spoke to this 
suffering one in a way that only he could. At this time 
my attention was drawn to a soldier on the other side of 
the room, whose face was so calm and placid that I felt 
that he was not much of a sufferer. The contrast be- 
tween the two men was so great that I said to the latter, 
" You seem to be so happy that I suppose you have not 
suffered much in the battle/' His only reply w r as to 
throw off the coverlet, when I discovered that both his 
legs were gone. The grace of God sustained him, and 
his face was beaming with joy, presenting a sharp con- 
trast to that of his neighbor who was filled with despair. 
This Christian soldier, who died that very night, said 



152 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H STUART, 

that he was willing to give his life for his country, and 
God took him at his word.* 

Immediately after our return from the front I proceeded 
to Newark, New Jersey, where the Old School Presby- 
terian Assembly was in session, and addressed them 
(May 27) on the work of the Commission, describing 
what our agents and delegates were doing in following 
up the march of General Grant's forces upon Richmond, 
with wagon-loads of stores, and a force of personal 
helpers to each division of the army to minister to the 
wants of the wounded and to comfort the last hours of 
the dying. I spoke of seeing a minister of their own 
body cutting the muddy and bloody boots from the feet 
of six or seven wounded soldiers, washing their feet, and 
ministering to the needs of these brave men. I said, 
" Money could not buy the services our delegates are 

* To his friend and biographer, Canon Cams of Winchester, the bishop 
wrote from New York, under date of May 26, 1864 : "I have just re- 
turned from Fredericksburg, only eight miles from behind the fighting, 
where I went on an errand of love to the wounded men lying there, and 
where I had an opportunity of showing kindness to the other side, and 
improved it. But my sympathies and my nerves were sorely tried by the 
scenes of war-suffering which I saw there and was in contact with. How 
many times a day did I preach little sermons in the midst of wounded 
men, and pray with them individually and collectively; and how much 
the ministrations of the Gospel have been blessed in the army, — how 
many conversions, how many pious officers ! What noble men the chap- 
lains are ! — the unfit and perfunctory men being weeded out ; and what 
an agency is the Christian Commission among them ! I presided at a 
meeting in one of the Episcopal churches in Philadelphia recently, where 
fifty thousand dollars were given to the Commission. I opened another 
in New York, when twenty-five thousand dollars were given. In Boston 
fifty thousand dollars were given, simply by people*, unasked, going to the 
Merchants' Exchange and putting their names down. It was in the work 
of that Commission that I went to Fredericksburg. " 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 1 53 

rendering to the defenders of our country, and which 
they propose to render until the war is over." At the 
same time I reminded them that all this service to the 
body was accompanied by unwearied efforts for the 
spiritual welfare of the thousands who in all human 
probability must soon go to their account. " Here you 
talk of church extension. We have been carrying on 
church extension over an area of twenty miles of camps. 
In two weeks after the army went into winter-quarters 
we had erected fifty -four churches. That is church ex- 
tension for you. These churches were begun one morn- 
ing, and before the next morning's sun arose they often 
were completed. We bade the chaplains go to their 
quarters, put up log churches, and we would cover them 
in, put in all the necessary furniture, and supply them 
with books. And those churches were filled, from the 
speaker's stand to the very farthest corner, every part of 
them, with the audience close up to the preacher. 

" Never shall I forget a service in one of these churches 
at General Meade's head-quarters. There sat the gen- 
eral on one side of the preacher (Dr. Kirk of Boston), 
and one of his aids on the other, and every little crevice 
was filled up with live men, while a major was acting as 
sexton, bringing in seats, and so on. And when the 
word of God was preached, those men opened their eyes, 
ears, and mouths, and listened with an eagerness I never 
saw before. And I knew, by the look on the face of that 
noble man, that we were on the eve of a bloody battle. 
And before me I saw a young officer, a noble specimen 
of an American soldier, and I could not help praying 
that God would send the word right into the heart of 
that young soldier. Very soon after he was mortally 



154 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

wounded. He was Major Robinson, an honor to the 
cavalry service." 

On one of my visits to the army I took Dr. Kirk, Mr. 
William E. Dodge, and another friend from New York 
to visit Camp Convalescent, about ten miles from Wash- 
ington. Here we held a memorable prayer-meeting in 
one of our large tents; and the meeting became so 
deeply interesting that, when the drum beat for the sol- 
diers to retire to their quarters, the colonel of an Ohio 
regiment (who, I afterwards learned, was an infidel) 
said, as many of the soldiers rose to go, " Keep your 
seats ; I will have you all excused for being out over 
hours." The meeting, increasing in interest, went on 
until it was ten o'clock, when it was with difficulty ad- 
journed. As we passed out of the door, the colonel 
asked us where we were going to stay for the night. 
We told him that we had to go to Washington, and 
pointed to our carriage that stood by the door. His 
reply was, " That is impossible, as all the sentinels have 
been posted for the night, and General Grant has re- 
cently given orders that no civilian should have the 
countersign. " This order arose from the fact that the 
countersign had sometimes been misused. To this I 
replied that if General Grant were there I could get it. 
The colonel responded, " But he is not here, and you 
will have to stay with us for the night." Then Mr. 
Dodge said, " I have a most important engagement in 
New York, and must leave Washington by the early 
morning train." The colonel then left, to see what 
could be done about the matter. On his return, taking 
me aside so that my friends could not hear what he said, 
he told me that when we had got about two miles out 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 1 55 

of the camp we would encounter a sentinel, who would 
cry out, " Who goes there ?" that I should then respond, 
" A friend with the countersign ;" to which the sentinel 
would reply, "Advance and give the countersign !" — that 
I was then to advance and give the countersign for the 
night, which, the colonel told me, was Beverley. We 
left the camp, and were stopped by the sentinel, who de- 
manded the countersign, as the colonel said he would. 
Leaving the carriage and advancing to within a few 
paces of where the sentinel stood, I saw him with his 
gun pointed at me and heard him exclaim, with a loud 
voice, " Halt and give the countersign !" whereupon I 
uttered the mystic word Beverley. Judge, then, of my 
astonishment when the sentinel responded, " Mr. Stuart, 
you have got the wrong countersign ;" to which I re- 
plied, " What is the right one ?" He responded, " I dare 
not give it to you, under penalty of death, and, had I not 
known your voice, I should have shot you on the spot." 
Returning to the carriage with the startling news, nothing 
was left us but to go back to the camp we had left. On 
making our way to the head-quarters of the general in 
command and explaining our trouble, he asked if Dr. 
Kirk was not one of our party, adding that, if so, Dr. 
Kirk ought to have known the countersign, which was 
Massachusetts. Up to this day we have never been able 
to understand why the colonel gave us the wrong coun- 
tersign, which might have cost me my life. On retrac- 
ing our steps towards Washington late at night, and 
passing through the same ordeal, " Massachusetts" car- 
ried us safely through the lines. Upon coming up to 
the sentinel, I was curious to know how he recognized 
my voice. Strange to say, he told me that he heard me 



156 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

some years before address a Sabbath-school in New 
York, of which he was a member. Had it not been for 
this recognition and his knowledge of my connection 
with the army, I should have been a dead man. Placing 
my hand upon his shoulder and addressing him as a 
brother, I asked him if he had the countersign. His 
reply was, " Thank God, I have." " What is it ?" said I. 
His prompt reply was, " The blood of Jesus." Shaking 
my good soldier friend by the hand and bidding him 
good-night, I said, " With this countersign there will be 
no danger of your being halted at the gates of heaven." 
This simple story has been told in many languages, and 
was a few years ago published in " The English Soldier's 
Almanac." 

On one occasion I was invited to attend a great meet- 
ing in the Academy of Music in New York, on behalf 
of the Christian Commission, which was got up mainly 
by the late William E. Dodge and Dr. Nathan Bishop, 
and was to be presided over by Lieutenant-General 
Scott. To my great surprise, there had been no ar- 
rangement made for a collection, which might have been 
as large as either of the collections I have spoken of. 
Nevertheless, at my suggestion, the announcement was 
made that some gentlemen would stand at the door and 
receive the voluntary contributions of the audience; and, 
to the surprise of all, a very large sum was contributed. 
In this contribution there was a pledge on a piece of 
paper, which was from a lady unknown to the committee 
and was for several thousands as I read it, but which the 
committee insisted must mean hundreds. I was right, 
and the pledge was promptly redeemed. This meeting 
awakened such an interest in the community that, when 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE II. STUART, 1 57 

in Wall Street the next day, I was unexpectedly called 
upon to speak from the steps of the present custom- 
house building, and there again a large subscription was 
made. 

After one of the battles I was suddenly obliged, by 
the crowd that gathered around me, to speak from the 
steps of the old United States building in Philadelphia, 
on Chestnut above Fourth ; and there another collection 
was extemporized of no inconsiderable amount. And 
so the interest in the work of the Commission continued 
to increase until the close of the war. 

The news of the surrender at Appomattox Court- 
House reached me at Troy, New York, while I was 
addressing a thronged meeting on behalf of the Com- 
mission. It was brought to the meeting by a reporter 
on one of the city papers, whom I shall allow to tell the 
story : 

"It was a great meeting. The big Fifth Presbyterian church 
was packed to the doors, with seats in all the aisles. When the 
telegram came, I thought that perhaps the meeting was not over, 
and rushed thither with the despatch. The sexton undertook to 
pilot me through the crowded aisles. Before we had fairly started, 
George H. Stuart rose to dismiss the audience. The sexton held 
up his hand, and Mr. Stuart stopped. All eyes were on us as we 
threaded our way to the pulpit, and I handed the despatch to Mr. 
Stuart. He read it and began to weep. The audience, thinking 
it news of personal affliction, was visibly moved. Then he said, 
' My brethren, these are not tears of sorrow but of joy.' He read 
the despatch. There was no benediction pronounced that day. 
The church resounded with shouts and cheers. One man sprang 
for the bell-rope, and sent out a brazen clangor.* Another rushed 

* There was yet another occasion on which the bells were very loud at 
a Christian Commission meeting. I had been at Buffalo with Rev. C. P. 

14 



158 THE LIFE OF GEORGE II STUART. 

for the bell at the Fifth Baptist church. Still another ran to the 
Rankin steamer-house, and the Rankin cannon soon swelled the 
din. A number of young men cleared out the recruiting-station 
on Washington Square, filled it with barrels taken from the dock, 
and set the pile on fire. Then joining hands they danced a war- 
dance round the blazing heap." 

From small beginnings, the Commission had taken 
such a hold upon the public mind (very largely through 
the influence of letters written to their friends at home 
by soldiers in the field), that ample supplies of money 
and of stores flowed in upon us from all directions. 
Even the Sabbath-school children had been organized, 
and, at the request of the Commission, prepared " house- 
wives'" which they filled with needles, thread, buttons, 
and other small articles which soldiers needed when 
away from home. It was suggested to them that they 
put a small Testament or a tract in with these useful 
articles and be sure to write a letter to put into the bag. 
One of these letters, written by a little girl seven years 
of age, who attended a Methodist Sunday-school in 
Philadelphia and was a daughter of a leading merchant, 

Lyford to address a great meeting (June 21, 1863), and never was our 
cause more eloquently advocated than by my companion on this occasion. 
A pastor from Lockport, in the same State, urged me very earnestly to 
come to that place, and we agreed to do so, assigning the date for our 
visit. On our arrival we found no announcement by either poster or ad- 
vertisement, and, on hunting up the pastor in question, we found the date 
had escaped his memory. He, however, assured us the meeting would be 
held on time, and made arrangements to have all the church-bells of the 
place, and perhaps others, rung violently at once. The people turned out 
in alarm to learn what was the disturbance, and were told there was to be 
a big meeting in the Presbyterian church in behalf of the soldiers of our 
army, and that George H. Stuart would address it. We had a full house. 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 1 59 

was found in one of these boxes by a wounded Michigan 
soldier at Nashville. It was as follows : 

Philadelphia, April 17, 1863. 
My dear Soldier, — 

I send you a-little Testament. I am a little girl seven years old. 
I want to do something for the soldiers who do so much for us, so 
I have saved my pocket-money to send you this. Although I have 
never seen you, I intend to begin to pray that God will make and 
keep you good. Oh, how sorry I am that you have to leave your 
dear mother. Did she cry when you bade her good-by ? Don't 
you often think of her at night when you are going to bed ? Do 
you kneel down and say your prayers ? If I were you I would 
not care if the other soldiers did laugh. God will smile on you. 
I am very sorry that you are sick. I wish I could go to nurse you ; 
I could bathe your head and read to you. Do you know this 
hymn, " There is a happy land ?" I hope you will go to that land 
when you die ; but remember I will pray that you will get well 
again. When you are able to sit up I wish you to write to me and 
tell me all your troubles. Enclosed you will find a postage-stamp. 
I live at — North Ninth Street, Philadelphia. Good-by. 

Your friend, 

Lizzie Scott. 

This so touched the soldier's heart that he was com- 
pletely broken down, and soon after gave himself to 
Christ. The letter and the soldier's reply were so simple 
and so touching that two hundred thousand copies were 
afterwards published and scattered far and wide through 
the army. While myself at one of the army stations of 
the Commission, where a large parcel of these house- 
wives were being distributed, an Irish soldier who had 
received one brought his bag back, and requested our 
agent to give him a bag with a letter in it, as he had no 
one to write him letters from home, being far away from 
his native land. 



l6o THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

As the work of the Commission grew upon our hands, 
new suggestions were made and fresh plans devised for 
the comfort of our soldiers. During the cold weather 
our delegates began to report to us that they greatly 
suffered for the want of shelter, where they might hold 
prayer-meetings and other religious services. To meet 
this want we conceived the idea of building tents, the 
Commission purchasing and furnishing large canvas 
coverings, so that at one time we must have had as many 
as two hundred of these tents in the Army of the Potomac. 
These chapels were often built in one day, so that the 
dedication took place on the evening of the day on 
which they were begun. The way it was done so 
speedily was as follows. A number of soldiers were 
detailed to go into the woods, to obtain the necessary 
wood and poles. Another number at the same time 
would be detailed for the purpose of erecting these poles, 
to be covered over, tops and sides, by the canvas which 
had been prepared and shipped from Philadelphia. These 
same soldiers out of the wood from the forest prepared 
rough seats, erecting at the same time a platform at the 
rear end of the chapel, where ministers and laymen could 
sit with an open Bible and speak to a crowded chapel- 
ful of men hungry for the Gospel of Christ. I myself 
have spoken in some of these tents which had been 
erected in a single day. So in speaking to the soldiers 
it was often found that we were addressing men in their 
grave-clothes. * 

On one occasion while these services were in progress, 
an officer entered the chapel-tent and called for the men 
of a certain regiment to withdraw at once and join their 
comrades, who were being attacked. Soon after this 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. l6l 

same chapel became a hospital, where wounded men 
were brought to be ministered to temporally and spirit- 
ually, by chaplains and delegates of the Christian Com- 
mission. These chapel-tents were until the close of the 
war among the most beneficent features of our work. 
Seldom were these chapel-tents used for religious pur- 
poses without witnessing many of the soldiers rising to 
ask for prayers, and sometimes reading letters from loved 
ones at home urging them to give their hearts to 
Christ. 

On one of these occasions I had with me Morris K. 
Jessup, an eminent New York banker, who then and 
there, for the first time, addressed the crowded chapel on 
behalf of his Master : though for years a church-member, 
yet up to that evening he had never spoken in entreaty 
to men to give their hearts to Christ. Since then he has 
been a most active Christian worker, helping forward the 
blessed work by voice and means. 

The " coffee-wagon'' presented by Mr. Jacob Dunton, 
of Philadelphia, was one of the peculiar and originally 
contrived institutions created for the occasion, a descrip- 
tion of which I append. It was constructed somewhat 
like a battery-caisson, so that the parts might be un- 
limbered and separated from each other. The limber, or 
forward part, bears a large chest, divided into compart- 
ments to contain coffee, tea, sugar, and corn-starch, with 
a place for two gridirons and an axe. From the rear 
portion rise three large boilers, under which there is a 
place for the fire, and under the box a place for fuel. 
Each boiler will hold fourteen gallons, and it is estimated 
that in each one on a march ten gallons of tea, coffee, or 
chocolate can be made in twenty minutes, thus giving 
l 14* 



1 62 THE LIFE OF GEORGE II STUART. 

ninety gallons of nourishing drink every hour, — a most 
ingenious and beneficent invention. 

Its first appearance excited the unmixed wonder of the 
soldiers. They craned their necks to see it, — rolled 
themselves over to get a glimpse of it. Was it an ambu- 
lance ? It didn't look like one. Was it a fire-engine ? 
Its mystery was solved as the grateful odor saluted their 
nostrils, and, when the delicious beverage was poured 
into their cups, — a substantial blessing which they in 
turn blessed, — it became the theme of many an affec- 
tionate comment. " I say, Bill, ain't that a bully ma- 
chine?" " Yes, sir, the greatest institution /ever saw." 
" It is what you might call the Christian Light Artillery," 
said a third. " Pleasanter than what the Rebs sent us this 
morning !" added another. A delegate remarked, " What 
do you think of this, doctor?" The surgeon replied, 
" I thank the Lord for it : that's all I can say." 

I cannot resist reciting the following humorous inci- 
dent, which I call 

General Fisk's Swearing Story. 
Mr. Clinton B. Fisk, at the breaking out of the war, was an active 
Christian worker in St. Louis, and the superintendent of one of our 
large Sabbath-schools. Responding to the call of the President for 
volunteers to defend the flag of our country, he very soon raised 
the Thirty-second Missouri Regiment, of which he was appointed 
colonel. While drilling at Benton Barracks preparatory to entering 
the service, he on one occasion invited the Rev. Dr. Nelson, one of 
the leading Presbyterian pastors of that city, to preach to his regi- 
ment, which the latter did most effectively and appropriately. At 
the close of the services Dr. Nelson, after some solemn and appro- 
priate remarks, told the soldiers that he wanted them to enter into 
a covenant ; and, placing his hands on Colonel Fisk's shoulders, 
said, "Colonel, I want you to do all the swearing for this regi- 
ment," — and then, addressing the men, "Those of you who agree 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 163 

to this, please hold up your right hands." A thousand hands were 
held up. Some time after this, while the regiment was at the front, 
— the colonel then a brigadier-general, and his old regiment at- 
tached to his brigade, — one calm afternoon, while seated in his 
tent, he heard violent swearing some distance off in the swamp, and 
discovered it came from John Todd, the driver of a wagon which 
had become stalled. On asking the driver if it was he who had 
sworn so lustily, the reply was that the mules had stuck fast, and 
he had hard work to get them to move. The general responded 
by asking him if he had pledged himself to Dr. Nelson not to swear. 
"Yes," he answered, "but the swearing had to be done then, and 
you were not there to do it." 

Many of the bodies of our soldiers upon the battle- 
field were found to have been so stripped of articles by 
which they might have been identified, that we were led 
to have prepared small pieces of parchment called " iden- 
tifiers/' which bore on one side the inscription : 

Identifier. 
I am Co. Regt. 

Brig. Div. Corps. 



" God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, 
that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have ever- 
lasting life." 

And on the other side were the words : 

U. S. Christian Commission. 



Address my.. 



1 Suspend from the neck by a cord, and wear over the 
shirt — in the battle, under. 



164 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

For these identifiers there was a great demand, and 
through this means we were afterwards able to com- 
municate with the friends of those who had been killed 
or severely wounded. 

Another service our Commission was able to render 
to the soldiers was to act as their agent in getting their 
pay forwarded to their wives and families at home. 
Whenever the troops were paid, our quarters were 
crowded, and we received from fifty to two hundred 
thousand dollars a day in packages of from fifteen to 
a hundred dollars. Sometimes our agents were kept 
at work till eleven o'clock at night, and went to sleep 
with the packages under their pillow, after two hours 
more of work to get it ready for transmission by express 
next morning. 

I might fill a volume, instead of a chapter, with my 
reminiscences of those years. But that is unnecessary, 
as two volumes have been filled already. I refer to " The 
History of the United States Christian Commission, ,, by 
the Rev. Lemuel Moss, D.D. (Philadelphia, 1868), and to 
" Incidents of the Work of the United States Christian 
Commission," by the Rev. Edward P. Smith (same year), 
more recently republished with the title " Incidents with 
Shot and Shell." 

There is, however, one case which is very briefly re- 
ferred to in the " Incidents," by Rev. Dr. Eva of this city. 
It is one of the many cases where the Commission was 
not only instrumental in saving life, but was, under God, 
the instrument of preparing the soldier to do a great 
work for the Lord after his return home. Space will 
permit only a brief reference to this extraordinary case, — 
perhaps the most remarkable during the war. 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART 165 

John F. Chase, of Augusta, Maine, who was a rugged 
farmer-boy about eighteen years of age, was the fifth 
man in his State to enlist. He became soon after a can- 
nonier in the Fifth Maine Battery. After he had passed 
through several engagements unharmed, on the field of 
Gettysburg, on the night of July 2, while charging his 
gun to resist the Louisiana Tigers, a rebel shell exploded 
at his side, carrying away his right arm, destroying his 
left eye, and inflicting forty-eight other wounds, chiefly 
in his breast. Carried to the rear as dead, he was laid 
on the spot where, the night before, as an unconverted 
and wicked man, he had for the first time (all alone) knelt 
on the bare ground, praying to God for the pardon of his 
sins, and giving his heart to Christ. He lay there uncon- 
scious until the 4th of July, when he was picked up and 
put into the dead-cart with others to be buried. On his 
way to the grave he gave a groan, which attracted the 
driver's attention, when he was taken out of the cart and 
laid alongside of a barn on the roadside. He here lay 
another day without assistance, when the surgeons, after 
attending other cases, came and bound up his wounds 
and had him removed to the Cemetery Hospital. There 
he fell under the care of the Rev. I. O. Sloan of our Com- 
mission, who nursed him tenderly. Soon after he was 
taken out of the hospital, suffering from erysipelas. Mr. 
Sloan, still clinging to him, had a tent built over him 
and nursed him to convalescence. After three months 
he was brought by Mr. Sloan to West Philadelphia Hos- 
pital. He then weighed eighty-seven pounds ; when 
wounded he weighed two hundred pounds. 

As already stated, he had retired for prayer; as the 
result of hearing many sermons — facing death so 



l6;') THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

often, he feared to die in battle without an interest in 
Christ as the hope of salvation. While in the tent and 
being nursed, he was baptized by Mr. Sloan. He is now 
a faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
Most of his time is occupied in lecturing on temperance 
and kindred subjects. He has a wife and seven children. 
For more than twenty years he sought in vain to renew 
his acquaintance with Mr. Sloan, who had done so much 
to save his life, but finally secured his address at Bis- 
marck, Dakota, and soon after Mr. Sloan advised me of 
the facts of this remarkable case, to which my attention 
had not been previously called. 

About this time I had been desired to give a public 
address on the work of the Christian Commission, so I 
invited Mr. Chase to come on and speak as illustrating 
what had been done by it. After the delivery of my 
address, I referred to him and his remarkable case, and 
introduced him to the audience, whose hearts were 
melted by his recital of what he had endured for the 
cause. At the close of his address many remained to 
take him by the hand, among others an officer of the 
Southern army, who greeted him in the warmest manner, 
and, when we were about to leave the platform, who should 
make his appearance but the same Mr. Sloan, who had 
recently reached the city and was attracted to the meet- 
ing by the notice in the papers that I was to speak on 
the subject of the Christian Commission work. Neither 
of us knew he was in the house, and the surprise and 
affectionate greeting of the two men after so long a sep- 
aration may be better imagined than described. 

The United States Christian Commission, organized 
November 15, 1 861, closed its labors on the first day of 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. \6j 

1866, although many appeals were made to maintain the 
organization for similar work in times of peace.* In 
February of that year it held its final meeting at Wash- 
ington, in the "hall of the House of Representatives, 
where its annual meetings had been held in 1863, 1864, 
and 1865. At the second of these Vice-President Ham- 
lin occupied the chair, and at the third Secretary Sew- 
ard; at the latter Mr. Lincoln was present, and was 
deeply affected by hearing Mr. Philip Phillips sing 
" Your Mission." He wrote on the back of a pro- 
gramme, and sent it up to me by a page, " Near the 
close let us have ' Your Mission' repeated by Mr. Phil- 
lips. Don't say I called for it. Lincoln." 

A few days before this the friends of the Commission, 
who had assembled in Washington for the anniversary, 
called upon President Lincoln by appointment at the 
White House, and were received in the Green Room. I 
introduced him in a general way to the assembly, and 
spoke briefly of the work we were doing, and of the 
feelings of those engaged in it towards the national 
cause and its representatives, especially our chief mag- 
istrate. While I was speaking he stood with his head 
slightly bowed and an abstracted air. But when he 
raised himself to reply his face kindled into a genial 

* An organization was formed by some of the active Western worke'rs 
of the Commission and under the same name. Mr. Stuart was chosen 
its president, but never was satisfied of its necessity, and the result con- 
firmed his judgment. It died within a year. 

In India, in 1 878, during the War with Afghanistan, a Christian Com- 
mission was organized by the Christian ladies of the Northwest Provinces, 
with its head-quarters at Roorkie. It was modelled after our American 
institution as far as was possible, but its operations do not seem to have 
been extensive. — Ed. 



l68 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H STUART. 

smile, and a characteristic light shone in his eyes. He 
disclaimed thanks for anything he had done to further 
the work of the Commission. " Nor," he proceeded, 
" do I know that I owe you any thanks for what you 
have done. We have all been laboring for a common 
end. The preservation of our country and the welfare 
of its defenders has been our motive and joy and re- 
ward." After Bishop Janes, with his cordial acquies- 
cence, had led us in prayer, the President shook hands 
warmly with all who were present, and we left him with 
a strengthened confidence in the leader God had raised 
up for us. 

At the fourth and last annual meeting, in the House 
of Representatives in 1866, Speaker Colfax presided, 
and letters were read from Generals Grant, Sherman, 
and Howard, Vice-Admiral Farragut, and Chief-Justice 
Chase, expressing in strong terms their approbation of 
the work of the Commission.* These letters will be 

*On the day previous, being a Saturday, the friends of the Commission 
called on President Johnson, Secretaries Stanton and Seward, and the other 
members of the Cabinet, all of whom still held over from Mr. Lincoln's 
administration. As we were going up the steps of the White House, an 
eminent Doctor of Divinity took this opportunity to remind me that Mr. 
Johnson was a very different man from Mr. Lincoln, and that it might not 
be advisable to propose to pray with him. It occurred to me that this made 
praying with and for him all the more needful. So, in introducing our busi- 
ness to the new President, I reminded him that he was called to succeed 
to a great and good man, who had been largely sustained in his labors for 
the nation by the prayers of God's people ; and, turning to one of our com- 
pany, I said, " Bishop , will you please to lead us in prayer?" Mr. 

Johnson at any rate made no objection; and, having made this good be- 
ginning, we went on as we began. We prayed with every one of the high 
officials we called on, generally in their public offices, the clerks laying 
down their pens and giving reverent attention while the different ministers 



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THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART, 1 69 

found in the Appendix to the present volume. At thisV* 
meeting the officers of the Commission reported that 
they had spent or distributed in money and goods, on 
behalf of the soldiers and sailors, $6,291,107 in all. To 
this must be added the unpaid services of most of the 
4859 agents and delegates, besides nearly two hundred 
Christian women, who had been sent to the front or to 
the hospitals, as only a very few of them had received 
any compensation, those few being chiefly the permanent 
agents in charge of divisions of the army. The Commis- 
sion distributed 1,466,748 Bibles or parts of the Scrip- 
tures, 8,603,434 books and pamphlets, 18,189,863 news- 
papers and magazines, chiefly religious, and 30,368,998 
pages of religious tracts. 

But the greatest results are those which cannot be put 
into figures and statistics. No one counted the dying 
men whose thoughts had been turned to the Saviour, or 
the men whom life in the army might have ruined but 
for the Christian influences and teachings which the 
Commission brought to bear, or the men w r ho had paid 
no heed to the offers of mercy at home, but accepted 
them when they were presented by the faithful preach- 
ing of the Gospel at the front, where the realities of life 
and death became so vivid. Nor can any one number 
the men whose lives were saved by the loving ministra- 
tions of our delegates on the battle-field and in the hos- 
pital. Wherever I go since the war I am meeting former 
soldiers of the Union and the Southern armies who hold 

invoked God's blessing on the land, on the government, on that depart- 
ment, and on its head. I never have found that Christians got on any 
better, even with those who are the least in sympathy with them, through 
not showing their colors. 

H 15 



170 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

the Christian Commission in grateful remembrance for 
the saving of life or limb. Since I began writing these 
pages I had occasion to thank an unknown man for help 
in getting up a slope rather too steep for me in these 
later years. " Oh, no thanks, sir," said he, " I was a sol- 
dier in the army, and I owe my life to your Christian 
Commission."* 

The indirect influences of the Christian Commission 
have been hardly less important. It did a vast deal to 
break down the prejudices of sect and party, and to show 
people that those on the other side of these unhappy 
lines of man's drawing are their Christian brethren. The 
spirit of union and the prevalence of harmony which 
have characterized the American Churches ever since the 
war, and which already have borne fruit in the reunion 
of the Presbyterian Church, owed much to those years 
of co-operation in hospital and on the battle-field. 
Another distinction which it tended to obliterate is that 
which would shut out Christian laymen from active ser- 
vice for the Master. Clergyman and layman worked 
side by side, spoke at the same meetings, proclaimed the 
same Gospel, and thus helped, Dr. Dorchester says, " to 
bring back into the actual life of the Church universal a 
practical realization of the priesthood of believers." 

* Among the many testimonials which I received from soldiers who 
had been benefited by the delegates of the Commission was the private 
diary of William McCarter, written in twelve volumes, the penmanship 
surpassing almost any writing I have known, and the composition ex- 
ceedingly good, so that all who have examined the work declare that it 
excels anything of the kind which they have ever seen. Although he 
was severely wounded at the Battle of Fredericksburg (the map of which 
accompanies the diary), he is still living and is a clerk in the Pension 
Office at Washington. 




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THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 171 

In reviewing this chapter I feel that its greatest defect 
is its failure to make due mention of the many faithful 
and efficient workers who held an eminent place in the 
service of the Commission ; but, in truth, I should not 
know where to stop if once I began. I cannot omit to 
name our chief field agents, — Rev. J. R. Miller in the 
Valley of the Shenandoah, Rev. I. O. Sloan in hos- 
pital and field work in Eastern Virginia, Rev. C. P. 
Lyford in Camp Convalescent, and Mr. John A. Coles 
at City Point, besides Rev. E. P. Smith in the Army of 
the Tennessee until he became Field-Secretary. Then 
there was Chaplain McCabe, who had learned to sing 
"The Battle-Hymn of the Republic" in Libby Prison 
and often stirred our hearts at our meetings with the 
story and the song ; Chaplain J. C. Thomas, who organ- 
ized our Loan Library system, by which each regiment 
while in winter-quarters was furnished with a supply of 
good wholesome books of all sorts we could obtain ; 
Rev. A. G. McAuley, whose services both at the front 
and as a Business Agent at the Central Office were 
invaluable, as were those of Mr. John Patterson, our 
" cavalry general" in the matter of selecting and caring 
for our horses, and Mr. James Grant, of Philadelphia. 
Among the efficient workers in auxiliary branches I 
might mention Mr. William Reynolds of Peoria, Hon. 
Edward S. Tobey of Boston, Mr. William Ballantine of 
Washington, Mr. B. F. Jacobs in Chicago, Mr. G. S. 
Griffith of Baltimore, and many others. Even the clerks 
in our central office were noticeable. The early death 
of John Irving Forbes deprived the Episcopal Church 
of a notable and brilliant clergyman ; George S. Cham- 
bers is now the Rev. Dr. Chambers of Harrisburg; 



172 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

Alexander Patterson I shall have occasion to mention 
again as a notable evangelist; Mr. Blackstone has become 
an efficient promoter of foreign missions; and Robert Ellis 
Thompson is a professor in our University and the editor 
of this book. 

For years it was my privilege and delight to meet the 
workers of the Commission along with the surviving 
chaplains of both armies in an annual reunion at some 
place of summer resort, commonly at the sea-side ; and, 
although my health has prevented my attendance for 
several years, I still am retained as the President of the 
reunion, whose zealous Secretary, Rev. J. O. Foster, is- 
sues an annual " Reunion Call/' to gather the delegates, 
agents, and chaplains from all sections of the land. That 
of 1884 was the last public meeting General Grant ever 
attended. 



CHAPTER VII. 

Death of Dr. James R. Campbell in India — Death of William David 
Stuart — His Sabbath-School — His Biography — Presenting the Bible to 
President Lincoln — His Letter to the Christian Commission — Call on 
General Grant — House bought for him in Philadelphia — The Presenta- 
tion — General Grant's Log Cabin— Letter to Freedmen's Aid Society. 

The four years of our War for the Union of course 
brought with them other events than those connected 
with the Christian Commission. Two of these were of 
a painful character. The first was the loss of my early 
friend, Dr. James R. Campbell of our India Mission. 
Dr. Campbell died at a retreat for missionaries and their 
families, on the Himalaya Mountains near Landour, 
which it was my privilege, with the assistance of one of 
my brothers, to purchase some years ago, and which now 
belongs to the Presbyterian Board. His death took place 
on September 17, 1862, the day that General McClellan 
fought the bloody battle of Antietam. As he was near- 
ing his end, a beloved daughter, who was once in my 
Sabbath-school, seeing her father in deep thought, said 
to him, " Father, what are you thinking of?" " Daugh- 
ter," he replied, " I am thinking about the great plan of 
salvation, — that Christ came into our world and suffered 
and died that a poor sinner such as I am might be saved 
forever." His remains were brought down to Saharan- 
pur, and, as the fifty-four boys whom he had rescued 
from death by famine stood around his grave, the scene 
is said to have been inexpressively affecting. Dr. Camp- 

15* i n 



1/4 THE LIFE 0F GEORGE //. STUART. 

bell, during his missionary labors, wrote a deeply inter- 
esting book on India, which I had published and which 
at the time attracted considerable attention. Although 
it has long been out of print, many of those who had 
the privilege of reading it often refer to it. During his 
long missionary life in India, a month seldom passed 
without my receiving from him a letter not only full of 
interest, but written in the most beautiful handwriting of 
any correspondent I ever had. These letters, numbering 
hundreds, I have carefully filed away. Dr. Campbell had 
three sons, who all entered the ministry and two of whom 
are still living, one called after him and one called after 
myself. One of his daughters married an officer in the 
British army, and is still working for Christ in India; 
another has since died in the South ; and the third is on 
a temporary visit to this country, for the purpose of edu- 
cating the daughters of eminent Rajahs of India, having 
already spent considerable time in London for the same 
purpose. 

The other painful event alluded to was the death of 
my eldest son, William David Stuart, whom I have al- 
ready mentioned as the founder of the mission-school for 
colored children in St. Mary Street. His grandmother, 
Mrs. Denison, was his devoted teacher in the ways of 
the Gospel from his childhood \ and their mutual affection 
was strong and tender. He was a graduate of the Uni- 
versity of Pennsylvania, and, like myself, was dedicated 
from his youth to the ministry ; but declining health and 
other causes prevented him from carrying out my wishes 
and prayers. Few young men, however, accomplished 
more for Christ during a short life than my beloved and 
now sainted son, William David Stuart. His services 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE II. STUART. 175 

were much sought after to give scientific lectures for the 
benefit of churches and other societies. On one of his 
visits to the interior of the State, on the invitation of our 
late honored Governor Pollock, he contracted a cold 
which settled upon his lungs, and which led me to send 
him twice to Europe for his health. He was married 
December 4, 1862, to Miss Mary Ella Johnson, whom he 
had known and loved since their childhood. A week 
later they sailed for Cuba, in company with my brother- 
in-law Mr. David W. Denison. The trip was undertaken 
for the restoration of my son's health, but, as he grew 
worse in Havana, he returned home to die. His death 
took place April 7, 1863. At his funeral, on the nth, 
there was a large attendance of his University friends 
and others of his companions. Drs. Wylie, Boardman, 
Barnes, Suddards (of Grace church), and Reed conducted 
the exercises, Dr. Boardman speaking especially of the 
influence my son had exerted over the children of the 
mission and the people of color in its neighborhood. 

Mr. Thomas Nelson, who was one of his pall-bearers, 
insisted upon the privilege of publishing his life. I told 
him that I thought there was not sufficient material for a 
life of one so young ; but he urgently renewed his re- 
quest, and finally secured the services of Mr. James Mc- 
Millan, an intimate friend of my son's, although a much 
older man, my son having chosen as his friends those 
older than himself. In his hands I placed my son's 
private papers, when it was discovered that there was 
enough material to make two volumes instead of one, 
though that material was finally compressed into one vol- 
ume of three hundred and seventy-five pages, which Mr. 
Nelson printed for private circulation, and of which I 



I76 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

distributed a thousand copies among my friends and 
those associated with my son in Christian work. Several 
publishers were anxious to publish this book for sale ; 
but, for several reasons, their offers were declined. The 
demand for it of late years, however, has been such that 
I have about concluded to sanction the publication, by 
my relative Rev. Dr. John Hall, of an abridged copy, 
with an introduction by himself. 

Some years after my son's death I purchased the St. 
Mary's Street church and lot, and it has been continued 
to this day as a mission Sabbath-school for colored chil- 
dren, — this being the best monument that I could think 
of erecting for him. In the audience-room there is 
preaching twice every Sabbath by a colored preacher ; 
and the mission Sabbath-school founded by my son was 
carried on for many years after his death by my friend Mr. 
James Grant, and subsequently by Mr. John A. Hutchi- 
son, who still continues at its head, with a band of teachers 
largely from the Wylie Memorial Presbyterian church, 
from which it derives some of its support. There is a 
kindergarten held five days in the week in the lecture- 
room, and, on the sixth, several public-spirited ladies 
hold a meeting to instruct the colored children in the 
neighborhood in such things as will render them more 
useful and happy in their future life. 

My other children (three daughters and two sons) 
lived to grow up to womanhood and manhood, and are 
all, I am thankful to say, members of evangelical churches. 
On the 1 ith of May, 1887, m Y w ^ e anc * I were permitted 
to celebrate our golden wedding, with five children and 
fifteen grandchildren present. Owing to my bodily in- 
firmities, however, this celebration was somewhat private. 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. IJJ 

Later in the year 1863 I attended the Annual Con- 
vention of the Young Men's Christian Associations, 
which met in Chicago, and I was chosen to preside. 
In 1865 the annual convention was held in Philadelphia, 
Mr. Cephas Brainerd presiding. I had the pleasure of 
entertaining the members at Springbrook. During the 
war the Associations gave a hearty support to the work 
of the Christian Commission, which they had called into 
being ; but, as was anticipated, many of them suffered in 
numbers and some of them became extinct through the 
drain of young men to the service of the nation. 

In 1865 I was appointed a member of a committee to 
represent the Bible Society in presenting a handsome 
copy of the Scriptures to President Lincoln immediately 
after his second inauguration. After the presentation I 
happened to be the last of the committee to take the Presi- 
dent by the hand to bid him good-day. Mr. Lincoln 
said, in a very genial, familiar way, " Mr. Stuart, take a 
seat for a few moments, as I have a little leisure, and 
don't often see you alone." Taking my seat on his left 
and placing my right hand on his knee, I said to him, 
" Mr. President, you ought to be the best man in the 
land." " Why so, Stuart ?" said he. " Because there is 
more prayer offered for you than for any other man. I 
never go to a church or a prayer-meeting but I hear 
prayer for President Lincoln." He promptly and feel- 
ingly replied, " I appreciate such evidence of the people's 
interest on my behalf." I afterwards added that all the 
prayers that I ever heard would not compare with the 
prayer of Uncle Ben. He at once inquired who Uncle 
Ben was. I told him he was one of the freedmen whom 
I had met at Brandy Station, who was a very earnest Chris- 



178 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H STUART. 

tian, and who never went on his knees without offering 
a special prayer for the President. At one prayer-meet- 
ing the late Dr. Eells, of San Francisco, was present as 
a delegate of the Christian Commission, and was so im- 
pressed with Uncle Ben's prayer that he wrote it out and 
sent it to me. The President inquired what there was 
specially in the prayer for him. I said that, after thank- 
ing God for raising you up as a Moses to deliver his 
people from Egyptian bondage, he exclaimed, " O God, 
if you should forget to take Uncle Ben into heaven, don't 
forget to take Father Abraham Lincoln in." This was 
too much for our good President, who burst into tears to 
think that one of these poor colored slaves whom he had 
been raised up to deliver from bondage was willing to be 
left out of heaven if the President might enter. 

In this connection I may add that on one of my visits 
to the army around Washington I started out to dis- 
tribute a volume of selections from the Scriptures pre- 
pared by the British and Foreign Bible Society and called 
" Cromwell's Bible." My first visit was to the White 
House, where I offered a copy to President Lincoln, who 
seemed so interested in its distribution that he arose from 
his seat and thanked me for presenting him with it. 
During that same day the first and only time that I ever 
knew a soldier to refuse a copy of the Word of God 
occurred. This soldier was a man from my own city, 
Philadelphia. On his refusing to receive a copy of 
Cromwell's Bible which I offered him, I told him I was 
from Philadelphia, and, knowing the street on which he 
lived, should have occasion to refer to him on next Sun- 
day evening, when, on invitation, I was to speak at the 
Episcopal church of the Epiphany. " What are you 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H STUART 1 79 

going to say about me ?" he asked. To which I replied 
that I should tell them that I had commenced the dis- 
tribution of the Scriptures by giving a copy to President 
Lincoln, on receiving which he arose from his seat and 
thanked me ; but, when I came to one of our camps, I 
found a soldier from my own city, living on Callowhill 
Street, who said he was so good that he didn't require a 
copy of the Scriptures. He finally accepted it on learn- 
ing that President Lincoln had taken one. So much for 
the influence of the President among the soldiers. 

In his death the Commission lost one of its best and 
earliest friends, but in this field, as in that of the salva- 
tion of the Union, he was spared to us until his work 
was done. At his funeral and as representing the Com- 
mission, I was one of those who were admitted to the 
solemn funeral services in the East Room of the White 
House, which were conducted by his pastor Dr. Gurley 
and Bishop Simpson. 

I quote here, from the biography by his private secre- 
taries, Mr. Lincoln's letter in response to the invitation to 
preside at the first annual meeting in 1863 : 

" While, for reasons I deem sufficient, I must decline to preside, 
I cannot withhold my approval of the meeting and its worthy 
objects. Whatever shall be, sincerely and in God's name, de- 
vised for the good of the soldiers and seamen in their hard spheres 
of duty, can hardly fail to be blessed. And whatever shall tend 
to turn our thoughts from the unreasoning and uncharitable pas- 
sions, prejudices, and jealousies incident to a great national trou- 
ble such as ours, and to fix them on the vast and long-enduring 
consequences, for weal or woe, which are to result from the strug- 
gle, and especially to strengthen our reliance on the Supreme 
Being for the triumph of the right, cannot but be well for us all. 
The birthday of Washington and the Christian Sabbath, coin- 



l8o THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

ciding this year, and suggesting together the highest interests of 
this life and of that to come, is most propitious for the meeting 
proposed." 

On learning from the public papers that General Grant 
had been called from the Southwestern army to be Com- 
mander-in-Chief of all the armies, I took the liberty of 
calling upon him the morning after he arrived in Phila- 
delphia on his way to Washington, and first saw him in 
his room at the Continental Hotel engaged in packing 
up to take the next train for Washington. While thus 
engaged I conversed with him freely, and left him only 
when he was ready to start for the train. I was much 
impressed with the appearance and quiet talk of this 
man, hitherto so little known, who was to be hereafter 
the commander of all the armies that had been raised to 
quell the Rebellion. From that time until the close of 
his life my interest and my confidence in him increased. 
Our relations continued to grow more intimate, so that, 
on calling at his residence in New York when he was on 
his death-bed, although I had no expectation of seeing 
him, but had simply called to ask how he was and leave 
my affectionate regards for him, yet, to my great surprise, 
on hearing that I was in the parlor, he invited me to his 
room, where I found him sitting in a chair and evidently 
drawing near the end of life. After spending a few mo- 
ments with him I bade him — what proved to be a final — 
farewell. Afterwards, with a few other members of the 
Christian Commission, I was assigned a place near his 
remains as they passed up Broadway to their final resting- 
place. 

While speaking of General Grant I may refer to the 
fact that on one of my visits to the army, in company 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. l8l 

with my friend Mr. Stephen A. Colwell of Philadelphia 
and some others, the general placed his own private 
steamer at our command, in order that we might visit 
the different divisions of the army so far as we could do 
so by water. On the morning that we were leaving the 
army for home I called at his head-quarters to bid him 
good-by, when he insisted on walking down with me to 
the landing where we were to take the steamer, and when 
taking a final leave I incidentally asked him if there was 
anything I could do for him in Philadelphia, to which he 
replied, " No, I thank you, Mr. Stuart ;" but, on second 
thoughts, he added, " Yes, perhaps you can help me to 
get a furnished house ready for Mrs. Grant, who is now 
at Burlington, New Jersey, and is anxious to move to 
Philadelphia, but is deterred by the high rates that are 
asked for houses." I told him I would be on the look- 
out for a house, and w T ould advise Mrs. Grant if I found 
one. Afterwards, while talking to my friend Mr. Colwell 
on the deck of the steamer, I repeated this conversation 
with the general, and added that it seemed too bad that 
he who was fighting the battles of our country and ex- 
posing his life for the honor of our flag was unable to 
find a temporary home for his family in Philadelphia on 
account of the high rents. I then suggested to my friend, 
" What would you think of our raising the money to buy 
him a house ?" To which he responded, " That would 
be a grand idea." Soon after returning to the city (De- 
cember, 1864) I requested a few prominent citizens to 
meet Mr. Colwell and myself in my private counting- 
room. The meeting proved to be very enthusiastic, and 
a subscription was at once started and a committee ap- 
pointed to carry out the proposal to purchase a lot and 

16 



1 82 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

house for our distinguished general. It was bought 
April 12, 1865, the day when the last battle of the war 
was fought at Salisbury, North Carolina, and two days 
before Mr. Lincoln was assassinated. We found no diffi- 
culty in raising the money not only to pay for the house 
and lot (though more than forty thousand dollars were 
needed for the purpose) but also to furnish the house 
handsomely and to fill its larder with all needful supplies. 
The demand for houses was so great at the time that we 
found it more difficult to procure a suitable house than 
to raise the money to pay for it. Among the prominent 
subscribers were A. J. Drexel, George W. Childs, and 
Jay Cooke. 

About the time the house was ready for occupancy 
we heard that the general was on a visit to his family at 
Burlington, and that they were about to make a visit 
to the city. The committee— consisting of Adolph E. 
Borie, Edward C. Knight, William C. Kent, Davis Pear- 
son, George Whitney, James Graham, and myself as 
chairman— -resolved to have a handsome luncheon pre- 
pared to welcome him to his new home, the purchase of 
which had been kept as a profound secret from him and 
his family. The day and the hour having been fixed, 
the members of the committee, with the ladies of their 
families and a few other selected friends, were invited to 
the handsome new home at 2009 Chestnut Street, Mr. 
Borie and myself having gone to the Walnut Street 
wharf to meet and escort General Grant and his family 
to their future residence. After reaching the house, 
where they were introduced to the ladies assembled, I 
suggested to Mrs. Grant that she go upstairs and take 
off her bonnet, which she thought was unnecessary, as 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 1 83 

they were only going to stay for lunch. When all were 
assembled in the parlor, I opened a silver case, which had 
been presented by J. E. Caldwell & Co., and which con- 
tained the handsomest engrossed deed that I had ever 
seen — the deed being a present to the committee. Stand- 
ing with my back to the fireplace opposite to General 
Grant as he sat upon the sofa, I said to him, " Permit me, 
General Grant, to present you with a deed for this house 
and lot, from a few of your Philadelphia friends and ad- 
mirers, with their best wishes that you and your dear 
family may live long to enjoy this your new home," add- 
ing that, as he was a man of deeds and not of words, we 
should not expect any speech from him in reply. He 
arose seeming quite overcome with the gift, and, thank- 
ing us w T ith tears in his eyes, resumed his seat. Soon 
after, we repaired to the large dining-room, where a 
bountiful repast had been spread with all the delicacies 
of the season, lacking only, what was common on such 
occasions, wines and cordials. The gentlemen of the 
committee had given the most celebrated caterer carte 
blanche with reference to this repast, but when he asked 
14 What wines will you have ?" they said (although accus- 
tomed to have wine on their own tables), " Suppose we 
leave that matter to Mr. Stuart. ,, It was left to me, with 
the result indicated. Before lunch, I asked a blessing 
upon our meal and the family in their new home. 

Before our leaving the house that afternoon, the gen- 
eral remarked to me that he had never seen much of our 
city. On learning this, I told him I would call the next 
morning and give, him a drive through the principal 
streets. In an open buggy we drove down Chestnut 
Street, and I pointed out to him as we passed along the 



1 84 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

various buildings of interest, especially calling his atten- 
tion to Independence Hall, and, all this while, unnoticed 
by the crowds on the side-walks until we came to Fourth 
Street, when a boy, who was passing in front of the horse 
and calling out the morning papers, cried out, at the top 
of his voice, " There goes General Grant." That being 
the most crowded part of this public thoroughfare, be- 
fore we reached Third Street the crowd became so dense, 
including men and women, many of whom had run out 
of their stores in their shirt-sleeves and were filling the 
air with their cheers, that, in order to escape from the 
crowd, I turned up into Bank Street, which runs from 
Chestnut to Market and between Second and Third, 
with a view of taking the general into my own store 
which was on that street. But my purpose was sus- 
pected, and the crowd, by running through the alleys, 
had reached the street and almost filled it before I got 
there. Immediately on arriving at the store I caused 
the doors to be locked, to keep the multitude out, but 
some forty or fifty forced their way in with us. After 
waiting a short time, I took the general upstairs and 
passed into a second story of the adjoining building, 
which was occupied as the Christian Commission head- 
quarters. Here he evinced much interest in examining 
our various supplies and articles in preparation for the 
battle-field and hospital. After retaining him here as 
long as I thought proper, I looked out on the rear of 
the store on Strawberry Street, and there the crowd 
seemed as great as on Bank Street. Finally, with the 
greatest difficulty and only by the aid of the police, I 
was enabled to get him over some dry-goods boxes into 
Strawberry Street, and to place him again in the buggy, 





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THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 1 85 

although the people were anxious to carry him upon 
their shoulders. From this place we drove up Market 
Street, at a rapid rate, in order to escape the gathering 
crowd, which came from all directions. 

In return for the house which I was instrumental in 
presenting to him, General Grant presented to me, at 
the close of the war (July 21, 1865), the log cabin in 
which he had spent the last months of the war and had 
met the commissioners from the South, where President 
Lincoln had spent several days, and where General 
Grant had given most of his last orders, including that 
for Sherman's march to the sea and Sheridan's raids in 
the rear of Lee's army. This cabin possessed such his- 
toric interest that one of the city parks, I have been told, 
offered a large sum for it. When it was publicly known 
that Grant had presented the cabin to me, the city coun- 
cil of Philadelphia passed an ordinance inviting me to 
place the cabin in Fairmount Park, selecting such a loca- 
tion for it as might seem to me suitable. Thus I was the 
only citizen of Philadelphia that was ever allowed to put 
up a house in the park. I chartered a vessel to bring the 
cabin to Philadelphia, having it carefully taken down ; and, 
at a cost of five hundred dollars, it was rebuilt (August, 
1865) exactly as it stood on the banks of the James River, 
with the loss only of two or three shingles. It stands in 
the park to-day as an interesting monument of our great 
Civil War. 

On the occasion of the great review at Washington at 
the close of the war (May 23-25, 1865), I was honored 
with a seat on the platform in the vicinity of General 
Grant, and beheld the most stirring spectacle of that 
nature that the world has ever seen. Shortly after the 

16* 



1 86 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART, 

close of the war the members and friends of the Christian 
Commission throughout the country, without my knowl- 
edge, had prepared at great expense, by Mr. W. H. Phil- 
lips, an eminent sculptor, a marble bust of General Grant, 
which was publicly presented to me at a large meeting at 
the Young Men's Christian Association rooms in Phila- 
delphia, December 13, 1866. My friend Stephen Col- 
well presided on the occasion.* 

The war opened a great field of philanthropy and 
Christian effort among the freedmenof the South, into 
which I could follow the workers only with my good 
wishes and my prayers. I had an opportunity of ex- 
pressing my sympathy with this great cause in a letter 
responding to an invitation to address one of the early 
meetings of the Freedmen's Aid Society. I said, — 

"The object of your meeting is one which cannot fail to com- 
mend itself to the heart of every true Christian, patriot, and phi- 

* Mr. Colwell was a member of the Executive Committee of the Com- 
mission, as has been said already, and a most faithful attendant at its 
meetings. It was a work exactly in the line of his book " New Themes for 
the Protestant Clergy," which in 1857 had been thought so unsound by 
many critics, but which few would find any fault with in our days. Be- 
sides his writings on the necessity of practical benevolence as the proper 
complement to evangelical faith, he was one of the greatest of American 
writers on political economy. His introduction to Mr. Mathile's transla- 
tion of Fr. List's "National Economy" (1856) anticipates very, much 
of the recent criticism of the earlier English school, while his " Ways 
and Means of Payment" remains unsuperseded, as the ablest, the most 
learned, and the most practical treatise on money in our language or any 
other. Withal he was the most modest of men, and always anxious to do 
good by stealth as he had opportunity. His superb collection of books 
on political economy was, after his death in 1 87 1, given by his family 
to the University of Pennsylvania, in accordance with his known wishes. 
—Ed. 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART, 1 87 

lanthropist. The providence of God, in overruling the late terri- 
ble contest for some of the most wise and beneficent purposes, has 
brought before the American people no problem of greater im- 
portance than that which relates to the freedmen of the South. 
It is to the great work of improving their condition physically, 
socially, morally, and intellectually, that the energies of the coun- 
try should now be, in a great measure, directed. This is a duty 
which we owe to them, — a debt which is obligatory for us to pay. 

" Through long years of unrequited and involuntary toil, suffer- 
ing all the horrors of servitude, they added by their forced yet 
productive labor to the material wealth of the country, and thereby 
identified themselves with the advancement of its material pros- 
perity. Add to this the fact that in the recent struggle with 
slavery their blood was freely shed with that of their compatriots 
from other portions of our land, and their claim to the considerate 
care of the Christian and the patriot must be conceded. 

" They stand before us to-day with the chains of slavery broken. 
They demand as a right, in the name of justice and humanity, 
that we do something to destroy the effects of their long and bitter 
years of oppression and bondage fastened upon them by unholy 
legislation. We shall be recreant in our duty to God and our 
country if this appeal is despised. We are to educate the freed- 
men ; we are to recognize his right to manhood ; we are to prepare 
him for taking the advance step from the status of the freedman 
to that of the freeman, and to exercise the privileges of such. By 
our conduct, as well as our professions, we are to evidence our 
belief in that fundamental truth of the great charter of freedom — 
' All men are created free and equal.' 

11 In our efforts, and in our successes in this direction, we will 
at the same time be doing much to hasten the period when an 
unholy and unchristian prejudice, now so sadly predominant 
against our colored population, shall be crushed out, and the 
divine principle acknowledged as relating even to them who are 
the poorest and most lowly of earth : ' All things whatsoever ye 
would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.' " 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Ninth Visit to Europe — Bible Society Address and Lord Shaftesbury — 
Address before the Free Church Assembly and the Irish Assembly — 
Dr. Hall secured as Delegate to America — The Albany Convention 
of the Young Men's Christian Association — The Irish Delegation in 
the American Assemblies — Dr. Hall called to the Fifth Avenue 
Church, and accepts — His Arrival. 

In 1866 I made my ninth trip to Europe, in company 
with Mrs. Stuart and other members of my family. I 
was commissioned, along with Rev. Dr. Joseph P. 
Thompson and Mr. W. R. Vermilye of New York, to 
represent the American Bible Society at the annual 
meeting of the British and Foreign Bible Society. As 
a knowledge of the work accomplished by the Christian 
Commission had reached our British cousins, I was 
called upon to speak at a great number of meetings 
with reference to this work in the American army. Dr. 
Schaff, in his lectures on the religious life of America 
in connection with the war, had given the people of 
Germany some account of our work ; my friend Sir 
Morton Peto, in a speech at Bristol, November 13, 1865, 
had told his English auditors what he had seen during 
his recent visit to America ; and Bishop Mcllvaine had 
both spoken and written of the matter to his many 
friends among the Evangelical party in the Church of 
England. 

My health was so poor when I set out that I doubted 
my ability to address even the Bible Society, and it was 
understood that Dr. Thompson was to speak on behalf 
188 



»■ 



^J*»- 







GEORGE H. STUART. 

(from a Photograph taken in Paris, 1866.) 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 1 89 

of the American Society if I should not be well enough 
to do so. But the directors were very anxious to have 
me make a statement of the Bible distribution in our 
army, if I were at all able. Dr. Thompson reached 
Liverpool later than I did, and there found that I was 
so much better that I had already started for London 
to attend the meeting, Supposing that only one Amer- 
ican address would be allowed, he did not come to the 
meeting. 

Fortunately, I had with me Rev. Robert J. Parvin, of 
the Episcopal Church, who had been one of the most 
active workers in the Christian Commission. When I 
found that two addresses from Americans would be 
allowed, I had him invited to speak, which he did most 
ably. The speakers were limited to half an hour each, 
and I tried to stop at the end of my thirty minutes ; but 
the Earl of Shaftesbury, who was in the chair, said, " We 
can stand another half-hour of this talk." 

It was said by some American auditors that I sent a 
chill through a part of the audience by speaking of the 
war as for " the suppression of the slaveholders' rebel- 
lion," and by assuming from first to last that there was 
no room for any two opinions on that subject. But I 
certainly held their attention as I showed the gigantic 
scale and the benevolent spirit on which our operations 
had been conducted, and the fact that, through our Com- 
mission chiefly, nearly two million copies of the Word 
of God or of portions of it had been distributed in our 
army and navy. I spoke of the sacrifices by which this 
had been accomplished, and described how some of our 
American clergymen had stepped over the limits of con- 
ventionality to minister to the needs of the sick and the 



IQO THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. ' 

suffering, even to washing shirts for the wounded in the 
hospital. I referred to the hearty support we had re- 
ceived from men in authority, and especially from our 
martyred President, and gave incidents which illustrated 
the pow r er of the Gospel over the hearts of our soldiers in 
the dying hour. I claimed that it was in part " through 
the work and agency of our Commission that General 
Grant — the noble hero of our war, and the accepted in- 
strument of Providence in crushing our rebellion and re- 
storing our glorious Union — in five months sent back to 
their homes and places of business over eight hundred 
thousand soldiers. It may be asked what has been the 
conduct of these men since their return ? I have seen 
the returns which were made in response to official in- 
quiry throughout one State — Massachusetts — and, with 
few exceptions, the soldiers have returned hopie better 
men than when they left ; they have gone back to their 
work ; they have saved money ; they are the better for 
their service in the army." 

I concluded by saying, "God bless the two Bible Soci- 
eties. God bless the Queen of England ; long may she 
reign over a prosperous and free country! God bless 
the President of the United States !" Before I had time 
to resume my seat, the earl jumped to his feet, and, 
grasping me by the hand, amidst the intense excitement 
and general applause, reiterated my prayer, reversing the 
order, — the President before the Queen. 

During my address, which was reported verbatim in 
the London newspapers, I exhibited a small New Testa- 
ment which had been sent to the South by the British 
and Foreign Bible Society, had successfully run the 
blockade at New Orleans, and had found its place in the 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART 191 

inside breast-pocket of a Southern soldier. This New- 
Testament was the means of saving his life, — one of 
Grant's bullets having passed through the back cover 
and lodged in the book, which thus served as a breast- 
plate. The bullet pierced the book from Revelation to 
Matthew and lodged against the front cover. I have 
been told that, had this little New Testament been wood 
instead of paper, the soldier would have been killed, and 
I sometimes use the circumstance as an illustration to 
show the power of combination. These little tender 
leaves, separately so insignificant, when combined were 
able in this instance to reduce the force of the bullet so 
that, when it reached the first chapter of Matthew, it had 
no power to go through the cover. After the meeting 
this New Testament was passed around from hand to 
hand as a remarkable relic of the war, and the eminent 
chairman desired to purchase it ; but I declined to part 
with it, as it was one of the relics of the late war which 
I especially valued. 

Before leaving London I spoke at the annual meetings 
of the Religious Tract Society, of the Ragged-School 
Union, and of the Young Men's Christian Association. 
The latter planned a public reception to the representa- 
tives of the American Associations visiting London, to 
which I was invited ; but at the time it was held I had 
gone to Ireland, so Mr. Parvin had to represent the 
Christian Commission on the occasion. In addressing 
the Ragged-School Union, I told of Mr. Stephen Pax- 
son's pony, which never would pass a child without 
stopping. I observed that the large number of reporters 
present laid down their pens. I stopped my speech and 
said to them, " You can put that down as a fact, and if 



I92 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

you come to Philadelphia I will show you a picture of 
the man and the horse as they journeyed from town to 
town." 

From London I went to Edinburgh, where the Assem- 
blies met in May. By invitation I addressed the Free 
Church Assembly on the work of the Christian Com- 
mission, and I told them the story of the soldier who 
said, " I have never thought or known much about 
churches or religion, but when the war is over I intend 
to know more; and I mean to join the church to which 
the Christian Commission belongs." I suggested to the 
Assembly the establishment of a federal union between 
the Presbyterian Churches on both sides of the Atlantic, 
very much on the line of the Pan-Presbyterian Confer- 
ence, which was organized nine years later. I also sug- 
gested the immediate renewal of correspondence between 
the Assembly and the sister bodies in America, as that 
had been interrupted by offence taken with the faithful- 
ness and freedom of the Scotch Assembly with regard 
to slavery. This met with a hearty response from Dr. 
Candlish, as did my suggestion to have their delegates 
come to all the highest Church courts of Presbyterian 
bodies in America, instead of singling out the Old School 
Assembly as alone worthy of recognition. 

The moderator, in his usual address at the final ad- 
journment of the Assembly, made very especial refer- 
ence to what I had told them of the work of the Chris- 
tian Commission, — " labors which are fit to stir up as 
with a trumpet the energies of all the Churches of the 
world. There is nothing like them in the annals of his- 
tory, — carried on on a scale which was so gigantic, and 
characterized by a beneficence which was so Godlike. 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 193 

On this side of the Atlantic our minds were perhaps too 
exclusively directed to the horrors of the fratricidal 
strife, in which so much blood and treasure were sacri- 
ficed, and it cannot but be profitable to us to have had 
our attention arrested by that angel of mercy w r hich all 
the while hovered over the battle-field. It is with a 
humbling sense of our own littleness that I contemplate 
the gigantic moral and spiritual power which resides 
within the North American States of the Union, and 
which could summon into action as in a moment four 
thousand agents, and send them forth to minister to 
friend and foe alike, to undertake and carry through 
tasks the most revolting, to enter into all the self-denying 
breadth which filled the heart and characterized the life 
of Jesus upon earth. The coal catches fire at such a 
spectacle, — the old grudges and suspicions are melted 
down." 

At this time Mr. Moody had already begun his evan- 
gelistic labors in Great Britain, and the fame of them was 
beginning to reach Edinburgh from Newcastle-upon- 
Tyne. On the Saturday after my address to the Assem- 
bly, I was visited at the house of my friend and host, 
Mr. Thomas Nelson, the well-known publisher, — who, 
like myself, was brought up in the Reformed Presbyterian 
Church, — and was invited to speak at a great evangelistic 
meeting which was to be held on the following Sabbath 
evening at the large Free Church Hall. I at first de- 
clined, as several speakers from a distance, many of wide 
reputation, were announced to speak ; but Mr. Jenkinson, 
a leading layman in evangelistic work, urged me to come, 
in the hope that I might be able to tell them something 
about Mr. Moody, they having forgotten, naturally 



IQ4 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

enough, my reference to him in i860. On repairing to 
the hall, I found a large congregation, and one of the 
leading speakers abridged his remarks so that I might 
have ten minutes to tell them something of this Amer- 
ican evangelist, who was attracting so much attention in 
England. Instead of speaking ten minutes, I addressed 
them for nearly an hour, giving a history of the conver- 
sion of Mr. Moody, his labors in building up his great 
Sunday-school in Chicago, and his subsequent labors in 
our country, with which I was very familiar. My ac- 
count of this layman's work for the Master seemed so 
incredible that one of their ablest ministers was sent up 
to Newcastle to hear him. On his return he said, in a 
ministers' meeting, " Brothers, that man can teach us all 
to preach." His report led to a special invitation to Mr., 
Moody to come to Edinburgh. 

From Scotland I proceeded to Belfast, where the Irish 
Assembly was in session ; and I had the pleasure of 
greeting many dear friends, while missing others, such 
as Dr. Edgar and Dr. Cooke, who had gone to their re- 
ward. On the evening of the 8th of June, when foreign 
delegates were received, I addressed the Assembly. The 
church building was crowded to excess, so that people 
were standing on the window-sills. I was preceded by 
Dr. Fisch of Paris, and Dr. Arnot of Scotland, who 
thrilled the vast audience as few men could have done. 
I had no notice of being expected to speak until a friend 
made his way through the crowd to the pew where I 
was sitting, and bade me hold myself in readiness, as I 
might be called upon. About ten o'clock the moderator 
announced that, as there was no delegate this year from 
America, he would take the liberty of calling upon an 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 195 

Irish- American present to speak for all the American 
Presbyterian Churches. I wended my way with difficulty 
to the platform, and asked the moderator what I should 
talk about. He replied, " Tell us about the results of 
the war and your connection with the Christian Com- 
mission." Here was an extensive field opened to me, 
and, after many vain efforts to close and sit down, I was 
not permitted to do so until about midnight. Such was 
the interest — in the subject rather than in the speaker — 
that the vast congregation remained till the close. I 
referred to the many rebukes the Irish Church had 
given to the Presbyterian Churches who were connected 
with slavery. My own Church did not admit a slave- 
holder to the communion, but there were not many Pres- 
byterian Churches in America that took that ground. In 
this connection I said that, with all their deputations to 
America, there came a request for funds, which was 
largely responded to ; and, now that the war had happily 
ended in the overthrow of slavery, I suggested that it 
would be a very appropriate and happy thing for both 
countries if they would send us next year, in time for 
the meeting of our Assemblies, a strong deputation with 
the congratulations of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland 
on the happy results of the war. Rev. John Macnaugh- 
ton, who was sitting in front of the platform, while I was 
speaking had prepared a resolution of thanks, and at the 
close of my speech added a resolution that my invitation 
be accepted, and that the committee on foreign corre- 
spondence during the year should select a suitable dele- 
gation to go to America in 1 867, in time for the ecclesi- 
astical gatherings of the various Presbyterian Churches 
in America, to express in the name of the mother Church 



I96 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

the warmest congratulations on the result to which the 
great civil war in America had providentially been 
brought. The next morning, in the vestibule of the 
church, I met Rev. Prof. Porter, who had just assumed 
the presidency of the College, and whose demise has oc- 
curred since the preparation of these pages. He said to 
me, " Stuart, your speech last night has got me into 
trouble. ,, " How so ?" said I. Said he, " Didn't you 
know that I was chairman of the committee on foreign 
correspondence, and hence it is made my duty to select 
a delegation to go to your country next year ?" " Oh," 
said I, " There is no trouble in that if you will allow me 
to suggest names for the delegation. " " Certainly," said 
he. " Then," I said, " I appoint the Rev. Prof. Porter 
and the Rev. John Hall ;" to which he at once replied 
that his new official relation prevented him from going ; 
to which I said, " Send us Hall with any one else you 
may choose." Months after this, while travelling in 
Switzerland, I had a letter from Mr. Hall, telling me of 
his appointment, but expressing regret that he could not 
accept, owing to the fact that he had received from his 
congregation four months' leave of absence during the 
winter and spring to visit the Continent, going as far as 
Rome with his wife as the guest of a lady from London, 
who, while visiting Dublin, had become so interested in 
his work that she insisted that he and his wife should 
accompany her on her proposed tour. Owing to the fact 
that I had frequently urged him to visit America in vain, 
he regretted, more than he could express, that he could 
not avail himself of the present opportunity. Soon 
after this his congregation heard of his appointment to 
America, when they kindly granted him eight months' 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 1 97 

leave of absence instead of four, so that he was shut up 
to coming ; and at the last moment he left the two ladies 
in Paris and hastened to Queenstown, to take the last 
steamer which would bring him and his fellow delegate, 
the Rev. Dr. Denham, of Londonderry, to New York in 
time for the first ecclesiastical meeting of the year, the 
General Synod of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, 
of which I was a member. This was the occasion of 
Dr. Hall's visit to America which in turn led to his find- 
ing his field of labor in this country. 

Before I left Belfast I made an address to a great as- 
semblage of Sabbath-school children in Linen Hall, and 
spoke on the character and operations of our American 
Sabbath-schools at a public breakfast given me for that 
purpose in Music Hall. Among other things, I said, " I 
do not know that we teach any better in America than 
is done here, but I think that, when once we are able to 
erect a church in America, we look more closely after 
the accommodation of the Sabbath-school than is done 
in the Old World. In our country the best part of the 
building is selected for the school, and is fitted up in a 
handsome manner and well lighted. Thus the school- 
room is made as interesting and pleasant as possible, and 
the very best men and women in the congregation are 
selected as teachers and superintendent. Then there is 
a meeting of teachers once a week, over which the pastor 
or superintendent presides, for the study of the lessons 
for the week. Now, as to libraries, — I am sorry to see 
so many of your schools without any. In America a 
Sabbath-school without a library is hardly known ; even 
the schools of the Far West have them, and the books, 
as a rule, are of a standard character. At any depot of 

17* 



I98 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

the American Sunday School Union a library with book- 
case can be had for ten dollars/' * 

After visiting my old friend Dr. Simpson at Portrush, 
and speaking there and at Mountmorris, and visiting Mr. 
Morehead at Donacloney, I went up to Dublin, where, 
on June 26th, I addressed a social meeting of the Young 
Men's Christian Association in Rutland Square church. 
I then proceeded to the Continent with my family until 
November. I spoke — through an interpreter, of course 
— before the Synod of the Waldensian Church in Flor- 
ence, which was at that time the capital of Italy. Before 
sailing for home I delivered in Manchester and Liverpool 
addresses on the Christian Commission in the American 
War. 

The Annual Convention of the Young Men's Christian 
Associations met early in May, 1868, in Philadelphia, the 
previous meeting having been held in Albany during my 
absence in Europe. Upon these two conventions fell the 
work of building up the waste places and recovering the 
losses of the war. I took as active a part as my health 
permitted in the deliberations of that in Philadelphia. 

Mr. Cree, the International Secretary, writes: "When the 
Eleventh Annual Convention met at Albany in 1866, and reor- 
ganized the work by the appointment of an international com- 
mittee with an advisory supervision of the work, there were, so far 
as was known, but sixty-nine Associations left in America. They 
employed but seven general secretaries and owned no buildings. 

* In 1870 Mr. Stuart presented a fine Sunday-school library to the 
school of our old church at Donacloney. The congregation already pos- 
sessed a good congregational library, which I have understood to be the 
gift of himself and his brothers, but he does not recall having given for 
its purchase. — Ed. 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE II STUART. 199 

There were no State organizations, and but little definite work for 
young men was being done. The next International Convention 
was held in Philadelphia in 1868. In this Mr. Stuart was a prom- 
inent leader, and at it was brought forward the idea which has of 
late years given the Associations their power, — that is, ' Work by 
and for young men' as the distinctive work of all the Associations. 
" The Albany and Philadelphia Conventions mark a new era 
in Association history. Since then the organizations have grown 
rapidly in number and in influence. Up to the Indianapolis Con- 
vention in 1870 Mr. Stuart was a constant attendant at the inter- 
national conventions, and a leader in the work of the Philadelphia 
Association. It is with pleasure he looks back on the early days 
of the work, — the days of small things. When he represented 
the American Association in Paris, they were a very small body, 
a few scattered associations, and doing very little work, but God's 
hand was in it. The last report of the International Committee 
shows that the sixty-nine American Associations of 1866 have in- 
creased to nearly thirteen hundred ; the seven secretaries to eight 
hundred and seventy-three. One hundred and thirty-five build- 
ings are owned and occupied, and some twenty more are in various 
stages of completion. The Associations own over seven million 
dollars in property, and have a membership of one hundred and 
seventy-five thousand, of whom thirty thousand are on working 
committees. They received for current expenses last year one 
million three hundred thousand dollars, and, added to this, gifts 
for building make the income for the year two million eight hun- 
dred thousand dollars." 

It was during the same month that Drs. Hall and 
Denham arrived from Europe as the fourth public depu- 
tation from the Irish Presbyterian Church, there having 
been a third, composed of Revs. Messrs. Gibson and 
McClure. They were just in time to address our own 
General Synod in session in New York, and then they 
hastened to Rochester, where the New School General 
Assembly was in session, and addressed that body. Dr. 
Hall's address was scarcely ended when Dr. William 



200 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART 

Adams, one of the oldest ministers of the church, rushed 
forward and took him by the hand and insisted upon his 
preaching for him when he came to New York. Many- 
other invitations were pressed upon him, but this was the 
only one he accepted at that time. 

The delegation proceeded from Rochester to Cincin- 
nati, where the Old School Assembly was meeting. Here 
I joined them, and remained with them throughout their 
western trip. Dr. Hall's sermon at the Broadway church 
in Cincinnati was the chief cause which led to his coming 
to this country. Dr. McGill of Princeton, my dear per- 
sonal friend, was present on that occasion, and wrote to 
his friend Mr. Robert L. Stuart of New York that a 
cousin of mine, who was here from Ireland, he had heard 
preach in Cincinnati, and he would fill Dr. James VV. 
Alexander's place. The Fifth Avenue church had been 
seeking for a worthy successor for Dr. Alexander for a 
long time. 

Dr. Nathan L. Rice had resigned the charge of the Fifth Avenue 
Church in April, 1867, mainly because of failing health. The es- 
teem in which he was held in the congregation was shown by the 
provision made for him, enabling him to move to a country place 
in New Jersey, until his health was restored. Born in Kentucky, 
brought up on a farm, securing the means of education for him- 
self by the work of teaching, and filling in succession the most 
important pulpits in Kentucky, in Cincinnati, St. Louis, Chicago, 
and New York, Dr. Rice exhibited a versatility of talent rarely 
paralleled in our times. Editing religious papers with marked 
ability, founding and managing good educational establishments, 
defending his convictions in great public debates with men like 
Fanning and with Dr. Alexander Campbell, where such men as 
Henry Clay presided and admired Dr. Rice's logical power and 
capacity for analysis, this eminent man was also professor in the 
Theological Seminary of the Northwest, and after regaining his 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 201 

health in 1868 took the presidency of Westminster College at Ful- 
ton, Missouri. There also he took the pulpit of the church, and 
his ministry was again signally blessed. Thence he was taken to 
a theological chair in Danville Seminary. There he died in 1877. 
He had been moderator at Nashville in 1855, and to the end of 
his seventy years inspired admiration and fearlessly witnessed to 
evangelical truth. 

This important church, one of the leading congrega- 
tions of the Old School body, had been looking over the 
country for a suitable pastor, but without success. Mr. 
Stuart, upon hearing from Dr. McGill, wrote me at once 
about securing Dr. Hall for a Sabbath. The doctor was 
sitting in my counting-room when I received the letter, 
and he said he would not under any circumstances 
preach in a vacant pulpit Here it may be stated, by 
way of explanation, that in Ireland preaching in a 
vacant pulpit is generally understood to indicate that 
the preacher is a candidate. I told him that in this 
country a man who preached for a church that was 
without a pastor was not necessarily regarded as a can- 
didate. He responded, " I shall only be one Sabbath in 
New York, and I am already engaged for Dr. Adams in 
the morning and two other pulpits for the afternoon and 
evening." The afternoon pulpit was that of a church 
in which two of my brothers, James and Joseph, were 
officers ; and Mr. R. L. Stuart, becoming more anxious 
than ever to have the Fifth Avenue church hear Dr. 
Hall, succeeded in getting my brothers' pastor to relin- 
quish his engagement. Then an effort was made to in- 
duce Dr. Adams to give up Dr. Hall in the morning and 
take him in the afternoon, to which the doctor, owing to 
the fact of its being summer, with so many people out 



202 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART, 

of town, declined to accede. I went to New York with 
a Philadelphia pastor to hear Dr. Hall. The church was 
full, but not crowded, as Dr. Hall was but little known in 
New York. This was in the morning. In the afternoon, 
when city churches are almost empty at this season of 
the year, the old Fifth Avenue church — downstairs, gal- 
lery, and aisles — was crowded to excess. A New York 
minister who accompanied us found us good seats in the 
late Alexander Stuart's pew. They remarked to me at 
the close that Dr. Hall was evidently annoyed by the 
sounding-board over his head, which was useful for a 
man who read his sermons. I remarked in reply, " That 
accounted for Dr. Hall's not interesting me as much as 
usual. " At the close of the sermon many gathered 
around the pulpit-stairs to take him by the hand. The 
oldest elder in the church, Mr. William Walker, with 
whom I had but a very slight acquaintance, came up to 
me and threw his arms around my neck, saying, " We 
must have that man for our pastor ; he is the only man 
I ever heard who can fill Dr. Alexander's shoes." I re- 
plied that, much as I would like to have Dr. Hall this 
side of the water, I thought it would be useless to at- 
tempt to move him from his important field in Ireland. 

Soon after this Sabbath the doctor proceeded to An- 
dover, where, by special invitation, he was to deliver the 
annual address before the Theological Seminary. Passing 
through New Haven, on his return to the house of my 
brother James in New York, he found it announced in the 
morning paper that he was to preach that evening in the 
Dutch Reformed church in New York of which the Rev. 
Dr. Rogers was pastor. He knew nothing of this until 
he read the notice in the paper; but, as Dr. Rogers had 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE II. STUART. 203 

preached for him in Dublin and he had failed to preach 
for Dr. Rogers in New York, he concluded that the doc- 
tor had the right to make the appointment. It after- 
wards appeared that a telegraphic despatch had been 
sent him with reference to this matter but had failed to 
reach him. My brother and Dr. Hall went to the 
church, to find, to their astonishment, that it was nearly 
full on a week-day evening in midsummer. At the close 
of the sermon, by prearrangement with the officers of 
the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, Dr. Rogers was 
to entertain Dr. Hall in his study while the officers of 
the Fifth Avenue Church should hold a meeting, at 
which they unanimously resolved to call a congrega- 
tional meeting at an early day and nominate Dr. Hall for 
their pastor. Shortly after, the doors of the study were 
opened, when the officers of the church entered, and one 
of them, addressing Dr. Hall, said, " Since the close of 
your sermon, we have held a meeting and resolved unan- 
imously to nominate you to the church for our pastor." 
To which the doctor attempted to reply, but they said, 
" Stop ! we don't want to hear from you, doctor." 

The next day the doctor came to Philadelphia, to at- 
tend a meeting on Thursday night, called to bid him and 
his companion, the Rev. Dr. Denham, farewell. This 
was held in the Academy of Music, which, although the 
largest building in Philadelphia, and though the meeting 
was held in the warmest month of the year, was crowded 
to its utmost capacity, attracting ministers of all evan- 
gelical churches who were in the city. As my own resi- 
dence was closed at the time, I accepted the invitation 
of Mr. Matthew Newkirk to spend the night at his pala- 
tial residence on Arch Street, on condition that, as his 



204 THE LIFE 0F GEORGE H. STUART. 

house was already full, I might be permitted to occupy 
the same room with Dr. Hall. It was in that room, 
late at night, that he told me of the occurrence at the 
Dutch Reformed church in New York the night before, 
remarking that I must have this effort stopped at once. 
Before going to bed I carried the news over to the op- 
posite room, where Rev. Dr. Jacoby slept, and he said, 
" Mr. Stuart, that is one of the grandest efforts I have 
heard of, as I learned when in Dublin of the great suc- 
cess of your friend and kinsman both as a preacher and 
as a pastor." 

Up to the hour of the deputation's sailing for home on 
the following Saturday, nothing was said further about 
this matter ; but Dr. Hall took me aside on the quarter- 
deck and begged me to interpose and have the movement 
arrested. The next thing that I heard of the movement, 
which I did not do much to check, was from a circular 
issued by the officers of the Fifth Avenue church calling 
for a meeting of the congregation to elect a pastor on 
the evening of the 31st of July. This circular was ad- 
dressed to the many members of the church who were 
spending their summer vacation at Saratoga, Newport, 
Long -Branch, and other watering-places. When the 
meeting was held, Mr. Robert L. Stuart nominated Dr. 
Hall. The old church building being hard to hear in, a 
gentleman arose and said, " Do you think Dr. Hall's 
voice would fill our church ?" To which Mr. Stuart re- 
plied, " Did you ever hear him ?" He said, " No." Then 
Mr. Stuart added, " I thought not." The vote was soon 
after taken, and, with but one lady\c dissenting voice, was 
unanimous. She gave as her reason afterwards that she 
had never heard the doctor, so she voted for a secretary 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 205 

of one of the Church's boards whom she had often heard. 
It so happened that this 31st of July was Dr. Hall's 
thirty-eighth birthday, and, before retiring for the night, 
William Walker sent a cable despatch to Dublin inform- 
ing him that he had that night been unanimously elected 
as pastor of the Fifth Avenue church, without any refer- 
ence to the salary. 

I was immediately applied to by the officers of the 
church to do all that I could to secure his acceptance. 
One of the plans which I adopted was to get letters from 
the ministers of nearly every evangelical Church in New 
York and Philadelphia, expressing their desire that he 
would accept this call, and assuring him that he would 
receive a welcome reception from all the ministers and 
all the Churches of both cities. All these letters were 
forwarded to me, and by me sent to Dr. Hall at Dublin. 
They were all couched in the strongest language, and 
one of the strongest of them, I may mention, was writ- 
ten by the Rev. Dr. Richard Newton, of the Episcopal 
church, who wrote from one of the sea-shore resorts. 
The news of his acceptance was first communicated to 
me by letter. The first person in Dublin to whom he 
made known his call was the merchant who spent a hun- 
dred thousand dollars in building the fine church of 
which he was pastor. The reply of the merchant was 
somewhat as follows : " Dr. Hall, that church would never 
have been built by me but for your successful pastorate 
in Dublin ; and yet I think that, with such a call as this, 
you should accept it, as there are perhaps more Irishmen 
needing the Gospel in New York than in Dublin." When 
he accepted this call it was a great disappointment to his 
own congregation, and I have never dared to show my 

18 



206 THE LIFE OF GEORGE //. STUART, 

face among them since, although I have many warm 
friends there. 

Early in the autumn of 1867, Dr. Hall, with his be- 
loved wife and children, arrived in New York, and it was 
my privilege, with Mr. Robert L. Stuart and some others, 
to go down the bay and bring them up to the city. I 
was in the carriage with Mrs. Hall, who had never been 
in this country. On Fifth Avenue I pointed out to her 
the doctor's future church. We then turned down 
Eighteenth Street and got out at the house which had 
been prepared and furnished to receive him and his 
family, where a large number of ladies of the church 
and others were waiting to receive us with a bountiful 
and well-covered table. Neither Dr. nor Mrs. Hall 
knew that this was to be their house, and they were 
somewhat surprised when I remarked to Mrs. Hall that 
I was going to stay and partake of their first meal in 
their new home. Theirs was my home while visiting 
New York afterwards, for although my brothers' houses 
were always open, Dr. Hall insisted that in visiting that 
city I should always stay with them. 

Dr. Hall's first pastoral visit was to the lady who had 
voted for another minister. I have not time to dwell on 
his success in New York, nor need I, as it is so well 
known throughout the country ; but I must relate one 
incident which is known to but one other person than 
myself, and perhaps by this time forgotten by him : he is 
still a member of Dr. Hall's church, and at the time of 
which I speak, although enjoying a liberal salary, would 
not have been considered wealthy. Not knowing my 
connection with Dr. Hall, he remarked, while walking 
down Broadway, " Have not our people made a great 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE II. STUART. 207 

mistake in calling a stranger from Ireland whom they 
had only heard once ?" I replied, " Well, the future will 
show whether they are wise or not." A year or two 
after Dr. Hall's settlement, the same gentleman asked 
me if I was related to Mr. Robert L. Stuart. I replied, 
" No." " Then," he remarked, " as you seem to know 
him very well, I wish you would suggest to him that we 
must build a new church, as we have not accommodation 
for the multitude who are seeking pews in our present 
church ;" adding, " You know I am not rich, but I am 
willing to give five thousand dollars towards building a 
suitable church." Such a church was finally built, with 
very large seating capacity, costing over a million dollars, 
all paid for, with a number of chapels in destitute districts 
under the charge of the congregation.* 

I may add, before I dismiss this subject, that Dr. Hall, 
after refusing several positions in this country, is now 
chancellor of the University of the city of New York, 
president of the Board of Home missions of the Presby- 
terian Church, director in various other boards, and menv 
ber of many important committees. While he was still 
in Ireland, though I had declined to act as a trustee of 
the Jefferson and Washington College, of Washington, 
Pennsylvania, I, for the first time in my life, applied to 
the trustees for the degree of D.D. for my friend Dr. Hall. 

* I may say in this connection that Dr. Hall's salary was fixed at 
seven thousand dollars in gold after his arrival in New York, and was 
raised to ten thousand dollars on the resumption of specie payments. It 
is now fifteen thousand dollars. The most preposterous statements have 
been published in the newspapers on this subject, with the addition that 
his income from wedding-fees alone amounted to twenty-five thousand 
dollars a year. The largest amount he ever received in any year in that 
shape was two hundred and fifty dollars. 



208 THE LIFE OF GEORGE //. STUART 

The applications for this degree were very numerous that 
year, and, upon motion, they were all laid upon the table, 
but when, at the close, Rev. Dr. McMillan, who had 
heard Dr. Hall in Dublin, called up my application it 
was unanimously granted, and some of those who were 
not disposed to favor the application, after hearing him 
preach, said that their college had done itself great honor 
in complying with Mr. Stuart's request. 



CHAPTER IX. 

The Presbyterian Union Movement begun in the Reformed Presbyterian 
General Synod — The Reunion Convention of 1867 in Philadelphia — 
Dr. Robert Breckenridge Inharmonious — Dr. Charles Hodge Satisfied 
— The Episcopalians Visit the Convention — Its Happy Results — The 
Final Reunion of the two Assemblies in Pittsburg — My Suspension for 
Hymn-singing, and its Effects on the Reformed Presbyterian Church — 
Meeting to Endorse Nomination of Grant and Colfax — Sad Death of 
Rev. Robert J. Parvin and William Garvin. 

Having been from my earliest connection with the 
church an ardent friend of Christian union, especially 
among the various branches of the Presbyterian family, 
my interest was increased and deepened at the close of 
the war by the abolition of slavery, which had been a 
barrier to union among Presbyterian Churches, and a 
barrier which had now happily ceased to exist. At a 
meeting of our General Synod in the city of New York, 
in the month of May, 1867, I introduced a preamble and 
resolutions inviting a convention of all the Presbyterian 
family to meet in Philadelphia in the ensuing autumn 
and consider the possibility of a closer and more cordial 
union. I then made a somewhat lengthy speech ; and, 
to my surprise and delight, my resolutions were referred 
to a committee consisting of one from each Presbytery, 
which reported them back with some alterations, but 
substantially the same, and these were adopted unani- 
mously. As adopted they stood as follows. : 

Whereas the interests of the kingdom of Christ require us, at this 
time, to inaugurate measures to heal Zion's breaches, and to bring 
into one the divided portions of the Presbyterian family ; therefore, 
o 18* 209 



210 THE LIFE OF GEORGE //. STUART 

Resolved, That this Synod recommend to the several Presbyterian 
judicatories, now met or soon to meet, to unite with us in calling a 
general Convention of the Presbyterian Churches of the United 
States, to meet in the city of Philadelphia, on the second Wednesday 
of September next, or at such time and place as may be agreed 
upon, for prayer and conference in regard to the terms of union 
and communion among the various branches of the Presbyterian 
family. 

Resolved, That we recommend that said Convention shall consist 
of a minister and a ruling elder from each Presbytery. 

Resolved, That certified copies of this action be immediately com- 
municated, by the Clerk of Synod, to the bodies included in this 
call. 

Resolved, That each body represented in the said Convention shall, 
without respect to the number of delegates, be entitled to an equal 
vote on all questions submitted for decision. 

Resolved, That the delegates appointed by the Presbyteries of this 
Church be required to report to this Synod, for its action at its next 
meeting, the results reached by the Convention. 

Resolved, That the Rev. John N. McLeod, D.D., the Rev. T. W. 
J. Wylie, D.D., and George H. Stuart, Esq., be, and they hereby 
are, appointed a Committee of Arrangements and Correspondence 
in regard to such Convention. 

According to arrangement subsequently made, the 
convention met in our own church in Philadelphia, on 
Wednesday, November 6, 1 867 ; and, when the roll was 
called, there were found to be clerical and lay delegates 
to the number of 262, — namely, from the Old School 
Presbyterian Church 162, New School Presbyterian 
Church 64, United Presbyterian Church 12, Reformed 
Presbyterian Church 12, Reformed Dutch Church 6, 
Cumberland Presbyterian Church 6, and also one dele- 
gate from the Southern Presbyterian Church. 

Quite as gratifying as the number was the character 
of the delegations, as they included some of the leading 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 211 

members of all the Presbyterian bodies. Among these 
I may mention Dr. Charles Hodge, Dr. George Mus- 
grove, Dr. Robert J. Breckenridge, Dr. George Junkin, 
and Dr. Beattie, of the Old School Church ; Dr. Henry 
B. Smith, Dr. Hatfield, Dr. J. F. Smith, Rev. B. F. Chidlaw, 
President Fisher, and many others, of the New School 
Church ; Dr. Harper, Dr. Davidson, Dr. Blair, and Dr. 
Barr of the United Presbyterian Church ; Dr. Crawford, 
Dr. McLeod, and Dr. Wylie, of the Reformed Presby- 
terian Church ; Professor Schenck and Dr. Suydam, of 
the Dutch Church ; and Dr. Miller, of the Cumberland 
Presbyterian Church. Dr. John Hall, who had recently 
arrived in the country, was invited to sit as a consulting 
member. This was the first public meeting that he 
attended after coming to America. 

On the Tuesday evening preceding the meeting of the 
Convention, a prayer-meeting of great interest was held 
in the church in which it was to assemble, presided over 
by our pastor, Rev. Dr. Wylie ; and on the next morn- 
ing there was at nine o'clock an elder's prayer-meeting, 
and at ten o'clock a general prayer-meeting, presided 
over by the Rev. B. W. Chidlaw. This prayer-meeting 
grew in interest to the close, and near the close a prayer 
of wonderful fervor, which seemed to touch every heart, 
was offered by Robert Carter of New York, the well- 
known publisher. 

Before the convention was called to order, a member 
came rushing up to me and said, " It would have been 
better if this Convention had never been called." " Why," 
said I, " what is the trouble ?" Said he, " Don't you see 
at the vestibule-door of the middle aisle Dr. Robert 
J. Breckenridge? That means fight!" To which I 



212 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART 

promptly replied that the Lord was greater than Dr. 
Breckenridge. Knowing the doctor personally, I made 
my way down the aisle, and, grasping him by the hand, 
invited him to my house as a guest, although it was 
already full. He politely declined, and told me he was 
comfortably fixed at the Continental Hotel. 

The Convention was called to order at half-past eleven 
o'clock, and, on motion of Dr. Barr, I was elected tem- 
porary chairman ; and, on motion of the Rev. William 
T. Eva of the New School Church, Dr. Archibald was 
appointed secretary. I called upon Dr. Blair, who was 
the oldest minister present, to open the Convention with 
prayer, after which I gave out the One Hundredth 
Psalm, in the old long metre version which has come 
down to us from the days of the Reformation, — "All 
people that on earth do dwell," — and the- Convention 
sung it with the utmost spirit, while standing. After this 
I read the fourth chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians, 
and made some introductory remarks, which may be 
found in the " Minutes of the National Union Con- 
vention," — which, however, are now out of print and 
difficult to obtain. At the close I said, The eyes of the 
Church are upon us. The cry comes to us from earth's 
perishing millions to close up our ranks and to go for- 
ward to the conquest of the world for our blessed Em- 
manuel. I hope the spirit which has pervaded the 
prayer-meetings of last evening and this morning may 
guide all our deliberations. I use not the words of men 
but of Holy Scripture in invoking upon you the blessing 
of God, praying ' that Christ may dwell in your hearts 
by faith, that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may 
be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 21 3 

and length and height, and to know the love of Christ 
which passeth knowledge, that ye may be filled with all 
the fulness of God.' " 

After this I announced that the Convention was ready 
for business. On motion of Dr. Suydam, a committee on 
credentials was appointed. Dr. George Duffield Jr. then 
moved the appointment of a committee, to consist of one 
minister and one elder, who should nominate officers for 
the permanent organization of the Convention, except the 
President. This motion being adopted, he moved that I 
be elected permanent President, which was carried by 
acclamation. The committee afterwards reported six 
Vice-Presidents, embracing a minister from each denom- 
ination represented in the Convention, and three Secre- 
taries. 

Soon after the formal organization of the Convention 
and. the reading and discussion of the original call by the 
Reformed Presbyterian Synod, Dr. Eggleston of the Old 
School Church offered a resolution that one minister and 
one elder from each of the six bodies represented in the 
Convention be appointed to prepare a Basis of Union, 
which should be submitted to the consideration of the 
various branches of the Presbyterian Church. At this 
point Dr. Breckenridge took the floor and, after a short 
speech, asked Dr. Eggleston to withdraw his resolution. 
Dr. Eggleston said that he had not the power to do this, 
as the resolution had been seconded and was the prop- 
erty of the Convention. This called Dr. Breckenridge 
again to his feet, when I called upon him to come to the 
platform, stating that we had a platform strong enough 
to hold the whole Presbyterian Church. He came to the 
platform and made a violent speech against the proposi- 



214 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H STUART. 

tion. Among other remarkable things, he said, in speak- 
ing of a committee of the Old School Church who had 
been in correspondence with the New School, that they 
were men of the highest character but not one of them 
was a learned theologian. This called forth great dis- 
approbation and cries of " Order !" from the Convention. 
As presiding officer I remarked to the doctor that we 
were not there to settle the theological status of members 
of his own Church, which had better be done in his own 
Assembly, and requested him to proceed without reflect- 
ing upon the character of gentlemen, most of whom were 
present as members of the Convention. To this he re- 
plied that he had not come there to be lectured by the 
chairman ; and left the platform amid loud expressions 
of disapprobation, which were heightened by his shaking 
his fist in my face and saying that the Convention had 
made a great mistake in making a layman their Presi- 
dent. The spirit which Dr. Breckenridge manifested 
upon this occasion really contributed to the harmony of 
the Convention, and to the results which, under the 
guidance of God's Spirit, it finally attained. Several 
members told me that they had come prepared to oppose 
union, but they were in favor of it if the spirit evinced 
by Dr. Breckenridge was the spirit of the opposition. 
It may be here remarked that the Convention soon after 
adjourned its first morning session, and that our friend 
Dr. Breckenridge was taken very sick at his room in the 
hotel, and never afterwards was able to resume his seat 
in the Convention. 

To the great joy of friends of union, the committee 
on a Basis of Union brought in a unanimous report. 
On the same day I had the pleasure of entertaining at 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE II. STUART. 21 5 

my house the Rev. Dr. Charles Hodge, who expressed 
his surprise and delight at the character of the report, 
and said, " If that is adopted by all the Churches, union 
is secured." I insisted upon his speaking to that effect 
at the opening of the next session of the Convention. 
He did not wish to do so, as he was not a fluent speaker, 
but I urged it on him, and he finally consented. 

At the opening of the session he took his seat beside 
me on the platform. One of the members of the com- 
mittee, who was my guest, was anxious to have the re- 
port recommitted, not to change its essential features in 
any particular, but that so important a document might 
have the benefit of a little more careful revision from a 
literary point of view. A motion to this effect was made 
soon after the Convention was opened, but was strongly 
opposed by Dr. Musgrove (who had been regarded as an 
opponent of union), on the ground that the report came 
in answer to the prayers of the Convention, which had 
spent the time that the committee had been deliberating 
in prayer for their guidance. So the motion to recom- 
mit was withdrawn. 

Dr. Hodge then stood up with the report in his hand, 
and, reading it over, article by article, addressed Dr. 
Fisher of the New School Church, who was a member 
of the committee that drafted the report, with the ques- 
tion, at the close of each article, " When you say thus 
and so, do you mean it ?" To this question Dr. Fisher 
in each instance responded "Yes." Dr. Hodge then ad- 
vanced upon the platform to where Dr. Fisher was stand- 
ing, and, amidst the most profound silence and interest, 
which affected not only the whole Convention but the 
crowded house, took Dr. Fisher by the hand, and said to 



2l6 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART 

him, " Dr. Fisher, you are my brother." At this unparal- 
leled scene it came to my mind to ask Dr. Henry B. Smith, 
who stood immediately in front of the platform, to lead 
the Convention in a prayer of thanksgiving. Dr. Smith 
said, " Let us mark this day with a white stone ! Let us 
pray !" It may be here remarked that Dr. Hodge and 
Dr. Smith had crossed swords with each other on this 
very question a few months before in the pages of the 
Princeton Review and the Presbyterian Quarterly. 

It was announced to the Convention that the three great 
evangelical societies of the Episcopal Church were hold- 
ing their annual meetings in the Church of the Epiphany, 
and that especial prayer had been offered at one of these 
meetings for the success of our attempts at reunion. It 
was moved and carried that a special committee should 
be appointed to convey to these Episcopalian brethren 
our fraternal greetings. The committee consisted of Dr. 
H. B. Smith and Dr. J. M. Stevenson, ministers, and the 
Hon. Judge Drake and Mr. Robert Carter, elders. The 
committee afterwards reported that a cordial reception 
had been given to them, and that the Episcopalian 
m'eeting (which was that of the Evangelical Knowledge 
Society) had not only appointed the Rt. Rev. Bishops 
Mcllvaine and Lee, with Rev. S. H. Tyng, Jr., Hon. Judge 
Conyngham, and Hon. Felix R. Brunot, to present their 
salutations to our Convention, but had resolved to attend 
in a body the next morning, when their fraternal greeting 
should be presented. On the appearance of the Episco- 
palian body, the members of their committee were invited 
to the platform, while the others were shown to reserved 
seats in the centre of the church. The whole congrega- 
tion rose to welcome them as they entered. 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 2\J 

The appointment of this committee and the fact that 
the whole Episcopal meeting was coming in a body to 
our Convention having been mentioned in the morn- 
ing papers, a great crowd was drawn to the building, — 
more than could be accommodated with seats. As soon 
as the members were seated, I called upon the vast con- 
gregation to sing- from the old version the One Hundred 
and Thirty-third Psalm : 

*' Behold how good a thing it is, 
And how becoming well, 
Together such as brethren are 
In unity to dwell." 

I then read some appropriate passages from the Epistle 
to the Ephesians ; and, as we were in the midst of our 
morning devotional services when our Episcopalian 
brethren entered, I asked my old friend, Dr. Richard 
Newton of Epiphany church, to close our devotional ex- 
ercises with prayer, which he did with a fervor and fitness 
that were in keeping with the solemnity and far-reaching 
significance of the occasion. 

After this prayer the minute of the Episcopalian 
meeting appointing this committee (signed by the Rev. 
Robert J. Parvin as Secretary) was read; and then, as 
President, I called upon Dr. H. B. Smith to present our 
salutations and brotherly love to their committee and to 
the body which had kindly favored us with their pres- 
ence. This he did in a few appropriate words. After 
this I advanced to Bishop Mcllvaine (with whom, as well 
as Bishop Lee, I had been intimately associated in the 
Christian Commission), and said, " I am most happy, 
Brother Mcllvaine, — I shall not call you bishop now, for 
k 19 



2l8 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

we are all brothers in Christ Jesus, — to welcome you 
and your colleagues to this platform, which I hope may 
be found strong enough to hold the whole Church of 
Christ." The bishop came forward amid great applause, 
and, after some personal allusion to myself, addressed 
the meeting at great length, in a speech of remarkable 
power, which found a response in every heart. At its 
close I welcomed Bishop Lee also, as an old friend, to 
our platform ; and he also addressed the great assembly 
in eloquent language such as the occasion demanded. 
At the close of his address the vast body rose to their 
feet and united in repeating the Apostles' Creed, in 
which they were led by the Rev. Dr. Smith; following 
which the Rev. Dr. McLean of Lafayette College struck 
up the familiar hymn " Blest be the tie that binds/' which 
was sung with marvellous effect. After the singing of 
this hymn I called upon Rev. Mr. Tyng, Judge Conyng- 
ham, and the Hon. Felix R. Brunot to address the meet- 
ing, which they respectively did in a manner worthy of 
the occasion. 

At the close of these addresses I tried to present the 
thanks of the Convention for the honor that had been 
conferred upon us by the visit of so many eminent men 
from our sister Church, and then called upon Dr. Charles 
Hodge, who made one of the most remarkable addresses 
that ever fell from his lips. With great tenderness Dr. 
Hodge said to Bishop Mcllvaine, " You and I passed 
through Princeton College together, and often met in 
our prayer-meetings. When you left, you went your 
way, and I went mine, and here, after the lapse of many 
years, we meet at the grave's mouth. In all these years 
I think you never preached a sermon on the great doc- 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 219 

trines of the Gospel that I should not have preached, 
nor did I preach one that I believe you would not have 
preached." Then they took each other by the hand, 
amidst the tears of the whole house. An effect was 
produced which is indescribable, and the memory of 
which will long linger. 

At the close of his address I called upon Dr. Stearns 
of Newark to make a parting address to our Episcopa- 
lian brethren, and this was also worthy of the occasion 
and of the man. The whole Convention then bowed 
their heads in silent prayer for three minutes ; at the 
close of which Bishop Mcllvaine offered an extempore 
prayer, which can never be forgotten by those who were 
privileged to hear it. As soon as he had said "Amen," 
he was followed by Dr. John Hall in a prayer of thanks- 
giving for the Christian fellowship of this happy hour, 
confessing at the same time our sins against such fellow- 
ship. Immediately after, Bishop Lee recited the Lord's 
prayer, in which the whole assembly, rising to their feet, 
joined. I closed this remarkable scene by grasping the 
hand of Bishop Mcllvaine and reading the beautiful 
benediction of the Old Testament Church from Num- 
bers vi. 24-26. During the reading of these words a 
solemn stillness fell upon the Convention, which contin- 
ued even after my voice had ceased, until a member of 
the Convention broke the silence by raising the well- 
known doxology " Praise God from whom all bless- 
ings flow." The impressive and memorable service was 
brought to a conclusion by Bishop Mcllvaine pro- 
nouncing the Apostolic benediction.* 

* Bishop Mcllvaine wrote to Canon Cams, under date of Christmas- 
Day, 1867 : " I do not know whether you have seen anything concerning 



220 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H STUART. 

I shall not attempt a formal history of the subsequent 
proceedings of the Convention. I shall quote two ex- 
pressions of what was the universal feeling as to its 
blessed influence in drawing the separated Churches 
together, and preparing the way for reunion. The first 

an event which has excited our High Churchmen, and especially the 
Ritualists, against me. That you may understand it in case you have 
heard anything about it, I will relate. 

" On my arrival from England, three of our Church societies (Evan- 
gelical) were holding anniversaries in Philadelphia, and more than a hun- 
dred clergy and a great concourse of laity were in attendance. While we 
Were in one of the business meetings, we were suddenly informed that a 
delegation had come from a large Presbyterian Convention sitting at the 
same time in Philadelphia, /moved that they be invited to present them- 
selves. They were ministers and laymen of high character, and repre- 
sented a body of strong, orthodox, and evangelical men, and many of them 
learned ministers and laymen of the various Presbyterian divisions, met to 
form a union among themselves. They came to greet us in the name of 
the Lord, having heard that, at one of our meetings for prayer, they had 
been prayed for, and having afterwards in their meeting prayed for us. 
They made some brotherly, loving, and highly appropriate and Christian 
addresses to us, to which (being asked by the chair to do so) I responded. 
A delegation was then appointed to go to their Convention, and recipro- 
cate their good will. Bishop Lee of Delaware and I, with three others, 
were appointed. We went next day. A vast congregation had assem- 
bled. There was a great greeting. I made the principal speech on our 
part; Bishop Lee next. We compromised nothing, but simply expressed 
the feelings of brethren. I took pains to acknowledge them as a Church. 
The one chosen specially to answer was the chief professor of their chief 
Theological Seminary, Dr. Hodge, whose critical commentaries on Ro- 
mans, Ephesians, Corinthians, etc., are well known abroad as well as here, 
and who was my college classmate, and most intimate friend at that time. 
We began the Christian life together. There was a great deal of joy and 
praise in the assembly. It was intended on both sides for a manifestation 
of essential unity in Christ, while neither saw the way of [to ?] Church- 
union. It was well-pleasing to the Lord, I doubt not. I have no possi- 
ble doubt of the propriety, but I expected to be greatly wondered at in 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 221 

is an editorial from The Presbyterian (Old School) of No- 
vember 1 6, 1867. 

"The Convention for the purpose of furthering unity among 
the various branches of the Presbyterian Church in the United 
States, which met last week in Philadelphia, was certainly a re- 
markable body and has done a remarkable work. It was com- 
posed of representative men from various bodies which sent them 
up, and of these men, some were among the very foremost men of 
their respective Churches, — conspicuous in their own communions 
for wisdom, moderation, learning, and attachment to the Churches 
in which they have ministered or ruled, and ready at all times to de- 
fend the principle which they represented. They came together — 
many of them wondering for what they had been summoned from 
their homes — some utterly sceptical touching any good results to 
be reached by these meetings, and others waiting with much curi- 
osity to see what the singular assembly might bring forth. As we 
looked at them on the evening previous to the regular opening of 
the Convention, we judged them to be as little likely to be swept 
away by any gust of enthusiasm, or the soft words of sentimental- 
ism, as any body of men we have ever chanced to see. 

"Yet it was manifest, to any one who watched the Convention, 
that enthusiasm was its special characteristic, and that the tide of 

some quarters — and have been — though the Evangelical brethren of our 
Church are delighted. 

" In these days we must come together, all that love the truth, as much as 
possible. I take shelter under such a passage as this from Bishop Hall : 
* Blessed be God, there is no difference in any essential matter between 
the Church of England and her sisters of the Reformation. We accord 
in every point of Christian doctrine, without the least variation. The 
only difference is in their form of outer administration, wherein also we 
are so far agreed that we all profess this form not to be essential to the 
being of a Church, though much importing the well or better being of it, 
according to our several apprehensions thereof; and that we do all retain 
a reverent and loving opinion of each other in our own several ways, not 
seeing any reason why so poor a diversity should work any alienation of 
affection in one toward another.' " 

19* 



222 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

feeling steadily rose from the commencement to the close of its 
sessions. The most obvious objection, indeed, to the Convention, 
was that it rapidly changed its character from that of a body 
calmly and soberly settling the principles upon which a great move- 
ment is to be conducted, to that of a mass-meeting, manipulated by 
hands skilful in the management of such enthusiastic gatherings." 

The other I transcribe from the memoir of Dr. Henry 
B. Smith, the leading theologian of the New School 
Church. Dr. Smith writes, — 

" In this Convention representatives of all the leading Presby- 
terian Churches (excepting the Southern Presbyterian Church, 
from which, we believe, there was only one delegate) met together 
for the first time in our history, to consult about reunion. Con- 
sequently it seemed very doubtful what would come of it. For 
some of the leading — not to say extreme — men in the different 
Churches were there, men thoroughly versed in all the points of 
difference and controversy, representative men, who would not 
be disposed to concede anything which would be considered es- 
sential or necessary. Had the spirit of division and contention 
been uppermost, here was a great arena for its exercise. 

" But from the beginning to the end, with one exception, an en- 
tirely different spirit, that of brotherly love and confidence, pre- 
sided over the deliberations and determined the results. It was a 
decisive and satisfactory demonstration of the real unity of our 
Churches. Manifestly a higher than human power presided in 
the Convention. The Spirit of Christ subdued and mellowed all 
hearts. The spirit of prayer was poured out in an unwonted 
measure, and in hallowed hymns the deepest feelings of faith and 
love found concordant expression. It is not often that believers 
stand together on such a mount of vision, and find the glory of 
heaven thus begun on earth. 

" And yet these high-wrought emotions did not lead to any rash 
conclusion, such as a cooler judgment might disapprove. On the 
contrary, the spirit of love moved in unison with the spirit of 
wisdom. Men were still cool and intent, and weighed their words. 
While points of controversy were kept in the background, yet the 
differences were not neglected, but rather harmonized. And the 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 223 

Convention was remarkable as to its results, in going just as far 
as it did, and in going no farther. It exceeded the most sanguine 
expectations as to the conclusions reached, but it did not trespass 
on ground not properly belonging to it. It was a high festal day 
for the Church. It was good to be there." 

Also to his mother Dr. Smith wrote : " We had a grand meet- 
ing of Presbyterians in Philadelphia last week, and helped on the 
reunion cause wonderfully. I never was at an ecclesiastical as- 
semblage where there was such manifest indication of the presence 
of God's good spirit, guiding and calming men's minds. Some 
of the strongest opponents of reunion were converted on the spot. 
Even Dr. Hodge relented wonderfully. I think the question is 
now virtually settled." 

The Convention adjourned after a three days' session, 
and after devolving upon me the selection of the com- 
mittees to report its results to the highest judicatories of 
the several churches which had been represented. It 
also suggested the holding of local conventions at five 
specified points, to spread the good influences of Chris- 
tian harmony throughout the churches. But the work 
of holding meetings for prayer and conference about re- 
union far outran this suggestion. Newark began it just 
ten days after the adjournment, and the forty-first local 
convention was held in Iowa City on May 6, the eve of 
the annual meetings of the Assemblies and Synods. 

The final result of the National Presbyterian Conven- 
tion was the reunion of the two great Presbyterian bodies, 
the New and the Old School Churches, in the city of 
Pittsburg, November 12, 1869, — a result which lam pro- 
foundly grateful to have in any way facilitated. It was 
my privilege to be present at the reunion, having gone, 
with the Rev. Dr. Hall and other friends, to witness this 
event for which I had long hoped and prayed. At the 



224 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

suggestion of the late William E. Dodge, I was invited 
to meet with the joint committee to make arrangements 
for the formal union of the two bodies, although not 
myself a member of either, and under suspension by my 
own Synod. I was greatly astonished to find that, with 
General Morehead of Pittsburg, Dr. John McCord, and 
William Rea, Esq., I was appointed a marshal to bring 
the members of the two separate conventions together. 
At my suggestion, the Third Presbyterian church, the 
meeting-place of the New School body, was selected for 
the joint assembly, as the New School Church was the 
younger and smaller body. Accordingly the members of 
the Old School Assembly took their stand on the street 
near the first Presbyterian church, where they had been 
holding their meeting, on Wood Street. Then the mem- 
bers of the New School Assembly marched down and 
took their stand on the opposite side of the street. It was 
my happy privilege to bring Dr. Jacobus, the moderator of 
the Old School Assembly, and Dr. Fowler, the moderator 
of the New School Assembly, together arm-in-arm in the 
centre of the street, amid the applause of ten thousand 
spectators. Their union was followed by a similar union 
on the part of the delegates of the two assemblies, New 
School men and Old School men walking arm-in-arm 
to the church where this union was to be celebrated. I 
had arranged to have a good singer stand in front of the 
platform, and, when the moderators entered the middle 
door of the church, to start the well-known hymn 
" Blow ye the trumpet, blow/' in which the members of 
the assemblies, as well as the crowded galleries, heartily 
joined as they marched into the church. 

During the impressive reunion services both Dr. Hall 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 22$ 

and myself were so urgently pressed to speak that I 
could not decline, and spoke as follows : 

As an outsider, standing on a platform of Presbyterianism per- 
haps a little more rigid than the rest of you, late New School and 
Old School brethren, I have looked with interest, second to no 
man, upon the movement inaugurated in the city of St. Louis 
during the visit of Dr. McCosh to this country in the year 1866. 
When looking upon the hills of my native land, my heart went 
up to God in a song of thankfulness for that communion season 
which you had together in the city of St. Louis. My heart went 
up still more when I heard you had so far looked at each other as 
to appoint committees on reunion. When I heard of difficulties 
arising in the progress of the movement, my heart was sad in- 
deed. I have prayed for this union, and I have labored for it, 
simply because I believed that it would bring glory to my blessed 
Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, whose I trust I am, and whom I 
endeavor to serve. I have labored and prayed for it because I be- 
lieved it would tend to the advancement of the kingdom of Jesus 
Christ, not only in the United States of America, but also in distant 
heathen lands. I have labored for it and I have prayed for it be- 
cause I believed it would send ministers from towns where there are 
two, three, and sometimes four pastors of the Presbyterian Church, 
— that it would send some of these to other fields of labor. I have 
labored for it because it would bring these brethren to see eye to 
eye, and send ministers from these little charges, with the prayers 
and purse of this church, to go to Africa, and China, and India, 
and the islands of the sea, that the nations that have so long 
bowed down to idols might learn of Jesus and him crucified. Oh, 
brethren of this Presbyterian Church of the United States of 
America, think of it, that since this hour yesterday — while these 
twenty-four hours have been passing away — eighty-six thousand 
four hundred immortal souls have gone to the judgment-seat of 
Christ ; and we ought to ask ourselves the question which Baxter 
asked when he said, " I never hear the funeral bells tolled without 
asking myself the question, What have I done to point that de- 
parted soul to the Lamb of God that died to save a perishing 
world?" Brethren, buckle on your armor for the great conflict ; 
P 



226 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

buckle it on for giving the glorious Gospel of the Son of God to 
the millions of the earth who are perishing for the lack of knowl- 
edge. 

May God bless this great Presbyterian Church ; and may God 
grant that the day may soon come when one united Church shall 
embrace all Presbyterians — all those bearing the Presbyterian 
name — in this land. 

In the afternoon we attended union communion ser- 
vices in the First church, and in the evening a most 
interesting foreign missionary meeting in the Third 
church, at which again I was called to speak, and in 
substance said : 

Whether I am in the body or out of the body I cannot tell; 
whether an Old School Presbyterian, a New School Presbyterian, 
United Presbyterian, or Reformed Presbyterian, I cannot tell : this 
day's scenes seem like a dream. Erect, then, your Ebenezer. Let 
me give you a motto, — three very small words, — " Go or send :" go 
to the neglected in your own neighborhood, your own country ; or, 
if you can't go, send ! I do not wish it to be reported over the 
country that your collections for foreign missions last year were only 
ninety-two cents per member. Brethren, I would raise the stand- 
ard. Go home and raise two dollars a member, at least. Let us 
hear that your Board can send out a band of missionaries every 
month. 

During this memorable day, at the request of the 
United Assembly, Dr. John Hall, Hon. W. E. Dodge, 
and I were directed to send a cable despatch to Rev. 
Dr. Buchanan of Scotland. 

The two Presbyterian Churches in America this day united. 

Greet the Presbyterian Churches in Great Britain and Ireland, and 

pray that they may also be one. 

George H. Stuart, 
John Hall, 
William E. Dodge. 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 227 

One of the fruits of my activity in behalf of Presby- 
terian reunion was my suspension from office and mem- 
bership by the General Synod of the Reformed Presby- 
terian Church, at its annual meeting in Pittsburg in May, 
1868. All the safeguards which Presbyterian law throws 
around accused persons w r ere ignored and over-ridden in 
this proceeding. No trial was given me, no indictment 
prepared. I was suspended by resolution, and this reso- 
lution was changed several times during the discussion. 
When the vote was taken I was confined to my room 
by an attack of asthma, but sent Synod a denial of the 
charges contained in their resolution, " in manner and 
form as alleged." The ostensible grounds of this action 
were that I had sung hymns of human composition and 
communed with other than Reformed Presbyterians. It 
will be remembered that the Synod of 1856 had con- 
doned this last offence by re-electing me to offices in its 
gift immediately after I had avowed having communed, 
at the meeting of the Evangelical Alliance in Paris, with 
such men as Dr. Duff and Dr. Krummacher. Several 
of my friends declared on the floor of Synod that they 
had committed both of these serious offences, and would 
commit them again. That they were ignored and I was 
selected was manifestly for reasons personal to myself. 
Those of our body who were opposed to reunion of the 
Presbyterian Churches feared that if I remained in its 
membership I might exert sufficient influence to cause it 
to be carried into the approaching union. Hence my 
suspension. 

As most, if not all, of my readers were living at that 
time, I need not remind them of the outburst of indig- 
nation with which this action was received. A few of 



228 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H STUART. 

the smaller bodies of Presbyterians stood alone in ap- 
proving of the course taken by Synod, and those under 
the mistaken idea that it was due to a desire to maintain 
faithful discipline within the Church. But even among 
these there was no unanimity of approval, and even the 
organ of the Old Side Covenanters expressed indigna- 
tion at a body which would first tolerate certain acts for 
years and then inflict such censures for them without 
warning. Mr. Beecher, at the other extreme among 
Evangelical Christians, preached an indignant sermon, 
on the text "And they cast him out of the synagogue," 
which was published at the time in the New York Evan- 
gelist. 

Within our own Church the result proved the action 
to be little short of suicidal. The Presbyteries of Phila- 
delphia and Pittsburg and the Missionary Presbytery of 
Saharanpur suspended relations with Synod, and all three 
finally joined the Presbyterian Church. The Western 
Presbytery joined the United Presbyterian Church, only 
one minister dissenting, and he — the venerable Dr. Sam- 
uel Wylie of Eden — because he preferred to unite with 
the Presbyterian Church. Within two years after my 
suspension more than half the ministry of the Church 
had left it, carrying with them the greater part of their 
congregations, leaving it a mere fragment of what it was 
in point of both numbers and influence. 

Three of our principal churches in Philadelphia divided 
at this time, a minority in each, who approved the action 
of the Synod, withdrawing and establishing separate con- 
gregations, but claiming the name and the property of the 
societies from which they had separated. This led to law- 
suits, two of which were finally settled by a decision of the 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 22Q 

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania against the seceding par- 
ties. On one occasion, when one of these cases was be- 
fore the Supreme Court, one of our attorneys, the late 
Judge Porter, in addressing the full bench, said that, on 
examining me before the jury, he asked me if I could 
sing "Old Hundred" for the benefit of the jury; to which 
I replied that, although I had paid a man one hundred 
dollars to teach me "Old Hundred," I could not "turn a 
single tune." Whereupon Judge Williams interrupted 
Mr. Porter, saying he supposed Judge Porter's client, 
Mr. Stuart, did as a good Methodist pastor in Ohio 
counselled his people to do. The pastor, having given 
out a familiar hymn, enjoined upon all his congregation 
to sing it heartily as to the Lord, adding, " those of you 
who can't sing will please make a holy noise," — which 
he supposed Mr. Stuart did when he was at church. 

When the suit for the possession of the property of our 
own church was about to be taken into court, I w r ent to 
a joint meeting of the lawyers on both sides prepared to 
give the seceding party a check for twenty thousand dol- 
lars if they would abandon the suit, an offer which they 
indignantly declined, as the property was supposed to be 
worth nearly one hundred thousand dollars. This suit 
was continued in the courts for a dozen years or more, 
w r ith two similar cases decided by the courts in our favor. 
But, owing to various delays of the law, our own case, 
after one failure through disagreement of a jury, was not 
again reached ; and finally, in 1879, our congregation gave 
to those who had seceded five thousand dollars to help 
them erect a new church which they were building, and 
they relinquished all claim to our property. 

My own membership and that of the congregation to 

20 



23O THE LIFE OF GEORGE H STUART. 

which I always have belonged is now with the General 
Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, and I have per- 
fect liberty to sing hymns, if I only had any capacity in 
that direction, and am at liberty to commune with all 
those who love our Lord Jesus Christ. 

About two months before my suspension in this year, 
I had presided over a Convention composed of delegates 
from eastern Pennsylvania, Delaware, and western New 
Jersey. It met in Philadelphia on the 23d of March, to 
take effective measures to carry the Gospel to the masses 
throughout the region represented. 

On the 30th of September I presided over the mass- 
meeting held in Concert Hall to endorse the nomination 
of General Grant and Speaker Colfax to the presidency 
and vice-presidency of the United States. In February, 
1866, while we stood in the Speaker's room of the Cap- 
itol, before entering the House of Representatives to take 
part in the final meeting of the Christian Commission, 
somebody referred to next choice of a President. I put 
my right hand on Grant's shoulder and my left on Col- 
fax's, saying, " Here are my choice for President and 
Vice-President." They both deprecated the idea, but we 
now met to endorse the same two men as the choice 
of the Republican party. On taking the chair, I said, 
among other things, — 

My friends, I have had the pleasure of a personal acquaintance 
with our gallant leader since the very day of his being placed in 
command of our armies. From my intimate personal knowledge 
of the man I have no hesitation in saying that I know of no man 
to-day in the country better fitted for the discharge of the high 
duties to which he will be called, both by his past history and by a 
vast amount of good common sense. He will bring back peace to 
our common country, and will cause our brethren of the South to 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART 23 1 

realize that they belong to the same government which protects us, 
and that all attempts to re-establish slavery or put the foot upon the 
black man must forever be relinquished. 

In December of this year (1868), I lost two very dear 
friends by the fatal collision and conflagration of the 
steamboats United States and America on the Ohio River, 
a few miles above Warsaw on the Kentucky shore. Both 
Rev. Robert J. Parvin and Mr. William Garvin of Louis- 
ville were passengers on the United States, and both were 
suffocated or burnt to death. Of Mr. Parvin I have 
spoken elsewhere, and need only say here that he was a 
man of the loveliest character and the most decided 
Christian consistency, — an Episcopalian who found no 
one an alien, who served the common Master. 

Mr. Garvin I had known from the time when he was 
a resident of Philadelphia, before his removal to Ken- 
tucky, where he became known as perhaps the most 
prominent of the elders of the Presbyterian Church, and 
at the same time was honored by all as a business man 
of sterling integrity, exceptional energy, and unstinted 
liberality. His loss was deplored by the whole city of 
Louisville, where he had resided for forty-one years and 
had been for forty years a member of the First Presby- 
terian church. When the sad news reached me, I wrote 
to Mrs. Garvin : 

My very dear Friend, — I do not know how to commence to 
write to you, or what to say, I am so completely overwhelmed by 
the terribly sad news which Mr. Russell's telegram brought me last 
night, and to which I briefly replied by the wires. I cannot realize 
that your dearly beloved husband and my old, honored, and long- 
tried friend is dead. Can it be so that I shall never again on earth 
look on the face — the honest, beaming face — of that noble type of 



232 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART 

humanity, William Garvin? My heart bleeds for you and that 
large household of children and grandchildren of which he was the 
very idol, and my prayer goes up continually to God that He would 
grant you richly of His grace to sustain you amidst this heavy af- 
fliction. Your great consolation must be drawn from the fact that 
your dearly beloved partner in life was so well prepared for so sud- 
den a change. Sudden death to him, I have no doubt, was sudden 
glory. He often unbosomed himself to me, and spoke of his spirit- 
ual hopes and fears ; but I ever found him looking alone to Jesus, 
the author and finisher of his faith. To know William Garvin was 
to love him. I knew him, and feel I have sustained a great loss, 
which never can be repaired. . . . We shall anxiously await some 
further news, and hope that the precious dust of our dear friend 
may be found ; but, if not, it is safe for the Resurrection Morn in 
the care and keeping of Him who is "the Resurrection and the 
Life." 

His body was found amid the ashes and fragments of 
the cabin ; and, though touched by the fire, his face wore 
an expression of serene and undisturbed repose. His 
funeral was a public event in the city of his adoption. 



CHAPTER X. 

Offered a Place in President Grant's Cabinet — Secure the Selection of 
Mr. Borie and Mr. A. T. Stewart — Try to get Mr. Stewart to Retain 
his Office by Retiring from Business — Presenting a Bible to President 
Grant — Instances of his Friendliness — His Indian Policy — Appoint- 
ment of the Indian Commission — Its Services — National Convention of 
Sunday-School Workers at Newark — Made a Member of the Board of 
City Trusts — The Management of Girard College — Indian Chiefs at the 
Y. M. C. A. Convention — The Chicago Fire — Mr. Moody's Losses. 

Between General Grant's election to the presidency 
and his inauguration, he wrote to me, on the 27th of 
February, virtually offering me a place in his Cabinet as 
Secretary of the Treasury. I thanked him for the honor, 
but declined it on account of ill health. Four days later 
I was in Washington, stopping with that great and good 
man, Prof. Joseph Henry, of the Smithsonian Institution, 
and there met my honored and dear friend Mr. Joseph 
Patterson. I called on the President-elect in the evening, 
and was given to understand that I still could have a 
place in the Cabinet if I would accept it; but I again 
declined. It was largely through my suggestion that 
General Grant finally offered it to Mr. A. T. Stewart, of 
New York, who accepted the office. I also was the 
means of introducing Mr. A. E. Borie into the Cabinet 
as Secretary of the Navy, as it was through my intro- 
duction that he made the President's acquaintance, and 
by my persuasion that he accepted. Mr. Borie, on the 
morning of March 4, had left for Philadelphia and reached 
Wilmington when he heard of his nomination. He tele- 

20* 233 



234 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

graphed declining the place, but in the mean time the 
new Cabinet had been confirmed in block by the Senate, 
and soon after it was found that Mr. Stewart, as an im- 
porter, was ineligible to the office. This discovery and 
Mr. Borie's declination led General Grant to telegraph 
to me to come on to Washington. I did so, taking Mr. 
Borie with me, and insisting that, in view of the trouble 
about Mr. Stewart and the bad impression his refusal 
would make on public opinion, he must accept, which 
he did. 

When I reached Washington I was met by Judge 
Hilton, who took me to the Ebbitt House, where Mr. and 
Mrs. Stewart were staying. I found them in a private 
parlor, this being the first time I met either Mrs. Stewart 
or Judge Hilton. Mr. Stewart remarked that they were 
in a difficulty, and wanted my* advice as to the way out 
of it. I said the way out was very easily found. Turn- 
ing to Judge Hilton, I said, " I am not a lawyer, Mr. 
Hilton, but you are. Take a piece of paper and write 
down what I shall dictate, putting it into good legal 
form : 

" The partnership in the business of importing and selling dry- 

goods, heretofore existing between A. T. Stewart and : 

of the city of New York, is hereby dissolved by the withdrawal of 
the undersigned. 

" Now, Mr. Stewart, sign that, and the whole difficulty 
is solved." But he at once began to make objections. 
He could not think of such a thing as giving up his 
business. He was worth between twenty and thirty 
millions, but he held on like a limpet to his business. 
" My dear Mr. Stewart," said I, " some day you will have 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H STUART. 235 

to give up your business, and it may be very suddenly. 
Death will step in some day and dissolve. You have 
money enough. Here is an opening for you to serve 
the country with the help of your large experience and 
capacity for organization. Much better let business go 
and embrace your chance.'' I knew that he was eager 
to take the place, but the attachment to business was too 
much for him. He showed me two other papers which 
Judge Hilton had drawn up for him. One was a deed of 
trust conveying to Mr. William E. Dodge, Mr. Marshall 
O. Roberts and one other, all the profits of his business 
during the next four years, with instructions to devote 
these to charitable purposes ; the other was his resigna- 
tion of the Secretaryship. Of the former I said, " Surely, 
Mr. Stewart, you see that this would not serve the pur- 
pose. I also am an importer. What kind of time would 
the rest of us have for the next four years, if your big 
firm were under neither necessity nor inducement to 
make any profits whatever ?" I left them, and in the 
course of the day I called on President Grant, who told 
me he had received both papers. " You will agree with 
me," said he, "that there is nothing to be done but 
accept, his resignation." 

After Mr. Borie's resignation, which occurred towards 
the end of this year, I was again offered a seat in the 
Cabinet, this time the Secretaryship of the Navy ; but I 
again declined the honor. 

When I was talked of as likely to become Secretary 
of the Treasury, a prominent Pennsylvanian, at that time 
a Republican, told General Grant he had better introduce 
me to him and the other people of the State who were 
in public life, as I probably was not known to five thou- 



236 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

sand people in Pennsylvania. The general retorted that 
it was not long since he himself had not been known to 
a much smaller number of Pennsylvanians. 

The day after the inauguration of General Grant as 
President, I called on him, as one of the committee of 
the American Bible Society, with Chief-Justice Chase, 
ex-Senator Frelinghuysen, and the Rev. Dr. Taylor, to 
present him with a very handsome copy of the Bible, 
which had been specially prepared and richly but simply 
bound, with an appropriate inscription. As soon as the 
President understood the object of our visit, he requested 
us to pause until he had sent for Mrs. Grant and the 
children, together with some distinguished men who 
were in the house, including the late General Schofield, 
the late Joseph Patterson of Philadelphia, General Porter, 
and some others. After the addresses of ex-Senator 
Frelinghuysen and Judge Chase, it was my privilege to 
read a very touching and interesting letter from the late 
James Lenox, the President of the Bible Society, during 
the reading of which the whole committee seemed deeply 
affected. I narrated the manner of the presentation in 
an address at the Anniversary of the Bible Society, held 
in New York on the 1 3th of May of the same year. 

After General Grant's inauguration, I had the usual 
experience of those who are supposed to have the ear 
of a new President, and was run down with applications 
for the use of my name and influence in behalf of office- 
seekers. I felt obliged to advise the President that I 
would not give my name to any such applicant, but that 
if I knew of any cases in which my opinion might be 
of use to him, I would inform him privately. Three 
appointments I suggested in this way, — that of Judge 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H STUART. 2tf 

William Strong to the Supreme Bench, that of General 
Gregory to be United States marshal for Philadelphia, 
and that of Mr. A. A. Gordon to be bank-examiner for 
Kentucky. My own share of "the spoils" was the un- 
paid office of a membership in the Board of Visitors to 
the government's Naval Academy at Annapolis. This 
gave occasion to the statement in some of the news- 
papers that I had attended the annual ball held at the 
close of the academic year, and had taken part in the 
dancing ! This was an improvement even upon sus- 
pending me for singing hymns, although I could not 
" turn a tune." As a matter of fact, I was in Philadel- 
phia at the time. 

On one occasion two ministers from Ireland, a Pres- 
byterian and an Episcopalian, who were visiting our 
country in behalf of the Young Men's Christian Asso- 
ciation of Dublin, and for whom I acted as treasurer, 
when about departing from our city called at my pri- 
vate office, and, during our conversation, told me that 
they were about visiting Washington, and wanted to 
know if it was possible for them to see President Grant. 
I said " Yes," and told them I would give them a letter 
of introduction to the President ; whereupon the Episco- 
palian exclaimed to his Presbyterian friend, " Only think 
of having a letter to the President of the United States !" 
On further inquiry they were told that if they called at 
the White House at a proper hour they would be well 
received. A few minutes after this conversation, and be- 
fore the ministers had left, who should enter my count- 
ing-room, but President Grant and Mr. Borie, his former 
Secretary of the Navy. After visiting my friends Mr. 
Childs and Mr. Drexel at their offices, the President in- 



238 THE LIFE OF GEORGE II. STUART. 

quired for my office, and, without my expecting them, they 
both entered without the least ceremony. After greeting 
them both I introduced the President to my Irish friends. 
Never having seen the President or his likeness, they 
thought for some time that I was joking; but when I 
suggested to the President that, at the close of his term 
of office, which was near at hand, he should visit the old 
country and take Mrs. Grant with him, so that our 
friends there might have the pleasure of greeting the 
great general of our army who did so much to put down 
the Rebellion, and had also occupied the chair of the 
chief magistrate of our Union, — at this moment the 
Episcopalian started to his feet, and, with broad Irish 
accent, said, " Yes, sir, come, caed mille faelthe /" (Irish 
for "a hundred thousand welcomes!"). As the Presi- 
dent did not understand Irish, my friend translated it, 
and added, " When you come to Dublin we will have 
you seated in an open carriage drawn by eight gray 
horses, and before they have taken you far, the Irishmen 
will take the horses out, and with their own right arms 
draw you through the city, as you have never been drawn 
before, that you may see our beautiful Irish capital, and 
we'll give you a cheer that will burst the ear-drum. " 
When this Irish delegation afterwards visited Washing- 
ton, they met with a warm reception. On their return 
home, a great public meeting was convened to welcome 
them back after their prosperous visit to America. 
During their speeches they referred in glowing language 
to the fact that they had met the President of the United 
States in the private counting-room of an Irish-Ameri- 
can merchant, adding, " Only think of it ! The Presi- 
dent of the great American republic calling, like any 



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THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 239 

other man, at the private office of a merchant during the 
hours of business. " 

It will be remembered that nothing in General Grant's 
inaugural excited more attention or awakened more dis- 
cussion than his strong expression of his desire and pur- 
pose to see full justice done to the Indian tribes of our 
country. He told Mr. George W. Childs that, a as a 
young lieutenant, he had been much thrown among the 
Indians, and had seen the unjust treatment they had re- 
ceived at the hands of the white men. He then made 
up his mind that, if ever he had any influence or power, 
it should be exercised to try to ameliorate their condi- 
tion. ,, The late William Welsh of Philadelphia, who 
was a great friend of the Indians, invited a number of 
our citizens to his private residence, with a view of call- 
ing their attention to the closing paragraph of the Presi- 
dent's inaugural. Among other persons present was an 
eminent senator who was interested in the Indian ques- 
tion, and who, with Mr. Welsh, addressed the meeting, 
which resulted in the appointment of a committee to 
proceed to Washington and tender to the President the 
thanks of the people of Philadelphia for what he had 
said, and offer their services in aiding him to carry out 
his noble resolve. I was present at this meeting, and, as 
I was known to be personally acquainted with General 
Grant, the gentlemen insisted upon my being a member 
of this committee. The delegation selected represented 
various Christian bodies, and, so far as I can remember, 
consisted of the Hon. Judge Strong, the Hon. Eli K. 
Price, Thomas Wistar, Samuel R. Shipley, John S. Hilles, 
William Welsh, and myself. On reaching the White 
House (March 24) I had the pleasure of introducing to the 



240 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART, 

President these eminent citizens of Philadelphia, two or 
three of whom spoke to him earnestly and expressed the 
desire of many of our citizens to aid him as far as prac- 
ticable. This interview was altogether memorable, and 
one never to be forgotten by the few surviving members 
of the committee. 

Soon after this meeting at the White House, Mr. Welsh 
returned to Washington, and, with the aid of a member 
of Congress from our city, had a bill introduced, which 
had for its object the appropriation of a large sum of money 
to be placed at the disposal of President Grant, and ex- 
pended by him through a Board of Indian Commission- 
ers, who should be selected by him on account of their 
well-known character, to be continued from year to year, 
with advisory powers respecting the management of In- 
dian affairs. The bill passed both houses, and soon after 
President Grant sent for me through the Secretary of 
the Interior, General Cox, to come to Washington. On 
reaching the White House in company with the Secre- 
tary, and without any knowledge of why I was sent for, 
the President said to me, " Stuart, you and Welsh have 
got me into some difficulty by the passage of this bill 
which requires me to appoint a Board of Commissioners, 
and I have sent for you to help me." In reply to my in- 
quiry as to how I was to help him, he said, " I want you 
to name some leading men from different sections of the 
country, and representing various religious bodies, who 
will be willing to serve the cause of the Indians without 
compensation." After some reflection, I commenced 
with Boston, naming Edward S. Tobey ; then for New 
York City, William E. Dodge and Nathan Bishop ; for 
Philadelphia, William Welsh; for Pittsburg, Felix R. 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 24 1 

Brunot ; for Chicago, John V. Farwell ; and for St. 
Louis, James E. Yeatman (who declined in favor of 
Robert Campbell). I also named a gentleman from 
Cincinnati ; but the President himself had a name to 
suggest for the Commission, which was that of Henry 
S. Lane of Indiana. When I had finished my list, the 
President said that there was one name which I had 
overlooked, and that was my own. At first I declined 
to accept this position, for the same reasons which had 
led me to decline the position in his Cabinet ; but, upon 
the President's insisting that I should take this place, I 
finally consented, that I might personally oblige him, and 
perhaps, amid a multitude of other engagements, be able 
to do something to help the poor Indian. The executive 
order creating the Commission was issued June 3, 1869. 
The Board of Indian Commissioners thus selected met 
soon after this, and elected Mr. William Welsh president 
and Mr. Felix R. Brunot secretary. Mr. Vincent Collyer 
of New York was afterwards employed as our executive 
officer. Mr. Collyer was soon succeeded, however, by 
Thomas K. Cree, who continued to discharge the duties 
of his position with great faithfulness until 1873, w r hen 
nearly all the original members of the Board sent in 
their resignations for public reasons. Previous to this 
Mr. Welsh had resigned his position on the Board (No- 
vember 17, 1869), and been succeeded by John D. Lang 
of Maine, who is still a member of the Board. Mr. 
Felix R. Brunot succeeded Mr. Welsh as president, and 
Mr. John V. Farwell succeeded Mr. Brunot as secretary. 
Several of the members of the Board visited the Indians 
more than once on the reservations, that we might satisfy 
ourselves in regard to their condition, and make sure 
L q 21 



242 THE LIFE OF GEORGE II. STUART. 

that they received the supplies which the government 
voted. 

At the organization of the Board I was made chairman 
of the two principal committees, — the executive commit- 
tee and the purchasing committee. This last involved 
my giving much time and labor to examining and pass- 
ing upon all the vouchers of the Indian Bureau and 
supervising all its purchases. 

Many years before this, I united with a friend in New 
York in making a large bid for the supply of all the 
Indian blankets required for one year. Although I was 
the lowest bidder, and had complied with every requisi- 
tion of the advertisement, yet the award was made to 
another person, who was supposed to be in the " Indian 
Ring." Our member of Congress at the time, Hon. 
Joseph R. Chandler, was anxious to have me bring the 
facts before a committee of Congress ; but, having 
neither time nor inclination to go into a public quarrel, 
I declined. When the new Commissioner of Indian 
Affairs was preparing his advertisements for the first 
year's supply of goods after the appointment of our 
Board, it was my duty, as chairman of the purchasing 
committee, to superintend the advertisements. Before 
doing so, I examined former bids and awards, and soon 
discovered how it was that the " Indian Ring" was ena- 
bled to make such immense profits out of the annual 
supplies furnished to the government for its Indian 
wards. The advertisements for such goods specified 
certain classes, number one, number two, etc., each class 
containing several articles, so that the bidders had to bid 
for the whole of a class of goods, and the lowest total 
bid obtained the award. At the foot of the advertise- 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART 243 

ment specifying the several classes, it was stated that 
"the government reserves the right to diminish or in- 
crease the quantity taken of any of the articles of any 
class. ,, On further examination, I found a bidder who 
was said to have made a large fortune out of the gov- 
ernment had bid about half-price for a large quantity of 
goods called for by one article in one of the classes, and 
nearly double its market value for an article in the same 
class of which a very small quantity was called for. On 
this class his bid was, very naturally, the lowest. Finally, 
I found that he ultimately supplied a very small quantity 
of the article for which he had bid half-price, and a very 
large quantity of the article for which he had bid nearly 
double its market value. 

When the Indian Commissioner presented me with his 
advertisement, I insisted, against his wishes, in asking 
bids for each article without any grouping in classes ; and, 
although our Board was only advisory, the Commissioner 
finally consented to the modification. 

Previous to this the samples of goods with the bids 
were opened in Washington. I insisted upon the sam- 
ples and bids being inspected in New York (although 
myself interested in Philadelphia), as that was the central 
market of the country. The objection to this was that 
the government had no office in New York ; to which I 
replied that it would pay us to hire a store in New York 
for a few months, and this was finally done. 

Soon after we had taken this store in New York, and 
the advertisements had appeared in the papers, I, as 
chairman of the purchasing committee, was called upon 
by two leading merchants in New York, to know what 
this new form of advertising meant. I told them it was 



244 THE LIFE 0F GEORGE H. STUART. 

to give every man in the country an opportunity to bid 
for any one article. The result was that that year we 
had over ninety bidders, instead of less than ten in 
Washington the year before, and the awards in many 
cases were to new firms, one of the largest awards 
being made to a person who had often furnished the 
goods to other contractors, but never had succeeded in 
securing a contract himself. 

Our purchasing committee consisted of William E. 
Dodge, Robert Campbell, John V. Farwell, and myself. 
We were present to examine all the bids with the sam- 
ples accompanying them ; and, to prevent favoritism, the 
samples were marked by our secretary, Mr. Cree, with a 
private mark, so that the committee did not know, in 
examining the samples, to what bidder they belonged. 
In the case of some of the bidders from my own city, 
whose samples I knew, I declined to act with the com- 
mittee and left them to come to a decision without me. 
For the first time those bidders, Messrs. Wanamaker & 
Brown, were awarded a large contract for clothing. 
When the awards had been announced in the daily 
papers, a person who to a very large extent had furnished 
clothing to the Indian Bureau came into the office and 
said he supposed a man must live in Philadelphia to get 
a clothing contract hereafter. One of the committee, 
who had fallen on the street before coming into the store 
and was suffering from a bloody nose, replied to this 
gentleman, who was a friend of his, " Stuart had nothing 
to do with the clothing ; it was this bloody fellow from 
St. Louis that made the award far clothing. I knew you 
as a bidder," he added, " but didn't know Wanamaker." 
When we came to make the award for the tobacco called 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART 245 

for, we found that none of the committee were competent 
to judge of the article, as we did not use it in any form, 
so Mr. Dodge, at my request, selected an expert before 
whom the several samples with their prices were placed, 
without his having any knowledge of who the bidders 
were. Here again the award was made to a Philadelphia 
house, and this time to one of which I never had heard. 
Thereupon a person who had often filled this contract 
made the same objection that the dealer in clothing had 
made to the contracts going to Philadelphia. As the 
Philadelphian who secured the contract was unknown to 
me, it was not given him until the committee learned 
that his house was entirely responsible. 

The outbreak of the Modoc War in 1873, and the 
killing of the Commissioners, General Canby and Rev. 
Dr. Thomas, who had been deputed to bring hostilities 
to an end by assuring the Indians of the redress of their 
wrongs, furnished a severe strain to the " Peace Policy," 
which the Commission represented. It led us in May of 
that year to publish an account of the course of events 
which had brought about the hostilities, showing that 
the Modocs had not received fair treatment in the first 
place, and had not been the aggressors. The old Indian 
Ring took advantage of these unhappy occurrences to 
renew its attacks on our methods of purchasing supplies, 
in the hope that it might break down the system by which 
its excessive profits had been brought to an end. This 
led me to address a public letter to the Secretary of the 
Interior, Hon. C. Delano, dated May 13, stating substan- 
tially what has been said above. 

This system was the inauguration of a new order of 
things in the history of the Indian Bureau, which, so far 

21* 



246 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

as I know, has been continued by our successors in the 
Indian Board to the present day. As for General Grant, 
Mr. Childs truly says that " He took the greatest interest 
always in that Commission, and never lost that interest. 
Even to his last moments he watched the progress of the 
matter, but it was a very difficult affair to handle at any 
time, and then especially, as there was a great Indian 
Ring to break up." This is most gratifying to those who 
regard his Indian policy as the greatest and most enduring 
monument of his administration ; and it is equally grati- 
fying to the many friends of William Welsh to observe 
that his work in this behalf has been taken up so nobly 
by his nephew Mr. Herbert Welsh. " Their works do 
follow them." 

Mr. T. K. Cree, who was secretary of the Board while Mr. Stuart 
was a member of it, writes : 

" The most important work of Mr. Stuart's life was undoubtedly 
that of the Christian Commission, but ranking very high, if not next 
to it, was his connection with the Board of Indian Commissioners. 
Prior to General Grant's administration the dealing of our govern- 
ment with its Indian wards was simply atrocious. It was a stupen- 
dous fraud, — cruel and unjust. No treaty ever made had been lived 
up to. The Indians had been subject to the most inhuman treat- 
ment, and scarcely one of the atrocities practised by them but has 
had its parallel in their treatment by the civilized white man. The 
Indian agents, with certainly very few exceptions, had been dis- 
honest men, and at the time General Grant became President almost 
the first of his official acts was to dismiss every Indian agent, some 
seventy or more in number, and put an army officer in the place 
of each. Very many of these army officers were not one whit 
better than were those whom they supplanted ; and General Grant 
knew that most of them were, by their education and habits, unfit 
for the positions. He said, indeed, that he only intended to make 
room for an entirely new set of men. 

" His next act was to appoint the Board of Indian Commission- 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 247 

ers, who, with the Interior Department, were to supervise the Indian 
service. That he intended that they should have more control than 
they afterwards had is unquestionable ; and that routine and official 
precedents took away some of the power he intended they should 
exercise, I have no doubt. Still, they largely changed the adminis- 
tration of Indian affairs. Not a few cases under the old system are 
known where Indian agents, on a salary of fifteen hundred dollars 
a year, had accumulated fortunes in a few years of service. 

" In this Commission were represented different sections of the 
country, different religious denominations, and both political parties. 
The men were those most prominent in beneficent and religious 
work, and were known all over the country^ as philanthropists. 
Certainly no government Commission before or since has been 
composed of such material. 

" One of the first acts of the committee was to assign to each of 
the Missionary Boards of the Churches the naming of agents for 
certain Indian reservations. Some seventy or more men were thus 
secured ; and these men had the naming of nearly nine hundred 
employees at the agencies, who were all paid by the government, 
salaries ranging from six hundred to twelve hundred dollars a year. 
The intention of the Commission and of the President was to have 
all these employees Christian men and women who would work for 
the Christianization as well as the civilization of the Indians. The 
Missionary Boards named agents, and in every case they were ap- 
pointed, and no changes were made without the assent of the 
Boards. This opportunity for securing Christian men was open for 
eight years ; yet, strange to say, at very few of the agencies were 
the employees Christian men, and in several cases even the agents 
so named were not Christians. Still, most of the agents were honest 
men, and fraud was the exception where before it had been the 
rule. 

" All the members of the Board gave much time and attention to 
its duties. They made long journeys into the Indian country, 
spending sometimes months in such service ; they supervised the 
making of treaties and the removal of Indians ; inspected schools 
and agencies ; held conferences with the Missionary Boards ; se- 
cured legislation in the interest of the Indians, and, by dealing 
justly with them, removed the possibility of expensive and cruel 



248 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART 

Indian wars ; and, most important of all, they created a public 
opinion that demanded justice for this much-wronged people. 

" The system of educating and much of the business of civilizing 
the wild tribes was inaugurated under the direction and counsel of 
this Board ; and there has not been an Indian war of any magni- 
tude since the Board inaugurated a system which tried to deal fairly 
and justly with the Indian race. 

"The six leading members of the Board, Mr. Stuart among the 
number, very much to the regret of the President, presented their 
resignation in 1873, because of the existence of frauds which they 
could not correct, and for the existence of which they were not 
willing to be responsible, as they would have been had they retained 
their positions. But the work had progressed so far that the Indian 
service was quite as honest as is that of other government depart- 
ments ; and under the system introduced by the Commission the 
Indians as a people are now, and have been for twenty years, 
moving forward toward civilization, education, and citizenship." 

In 1869, after an interval of ten years, the third Na- 
tional Convention of Sunday-School Workers was held 
in Newark, and I was chosen to preside over its deliber- 
ations. In the opening address I was able to point to 
great advances in methods of organization, management, 
and instruction, which the ten years had witnessed. I 
mentioned having been in the Tower of London when 
last in Europe, and having seen the Crown Jewels, of 
enormous intrinsic value and great interest for their his- 
toric associations. But the same evening I had been 
addressing an assembly of neglected children in the Field 
Lane Ragged School, where I spoke of what I had seen 
that morning, and had added " that little girl possesses 
a jewel of far more transcendent value than all the 
crowns of earth, and all the splendors of royalty.'' For 
right before me there sat a little girl whose soul looked 
out of her eyes With a sparkle from heaven, and the 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 249 

earthly treasure paled before its brightness. I also re- 
ferred to the losses by death the cause had sustained 
during the ten years, especially of my friend Mr. R. G. 
Pardee of Brooklyn, and Rev. Robert J. Parvin who had 
been burnt to death on a steamboat laden with petroleum 
on the Ohio River. 

The Convention was largely representative, Henry Ward 
Beecher, Stephen H.Tyng, Sr., John Hall, Jesse T. Peck, 
W. J. R. Taylor, among others, speaking for the min- 
istry ; and H. Thane Miller, the blind worker from Cin- 
cinnati, Ralph Wells, and many others, for the lay- 
workers. In the concluding address I mentioned the 
fact that I was a comparative stranger to Newark ; for, 
although I passed through it every month and often 
several times a month, and during the war had stopped 
over to address the Presbyterian Assembly with refer- 
ence to the work of the Christian Commission, I never 
really had seen the beauty of the city until that week. 

In the year 1869 I was appointed a member of the 
newly constituted Board of City Trusts in Philadelphia, 
and have continued ever since to hold this office of honor, 
but not of emolument. 

Philadelphia has been honored as few cities have been 
by being made the custodian of large sums of money for 
charitable purposes. These gifts and bequests began as 
early as the days of Benjamin Franklin, who left to the 
city a fund, the income of which was to be used to aid 
poor young men to set up in business, when their time 
was out as apprentices. Other bequests, from his day 
onward, continued to be made for various benevolent 
purposes, such as supplying the poor with coal and in 
other ways administering to the wants of the community. 



250 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

Among the largest of these bequests was that of the late 
Stephen Girard, who died near the close of 183 1, and 
who, after making several bequests for various public 
charities, left the remainder of his large estate to the 
Mayor and councils of Philadelphia for the purpose of 
erecting and endowing a college for poor white orphan 
boys over six and under ten years of age, the preference 
to be given, first, to boys born in the city of Philadelphia, 
second, in the State of Pennsylvania, third, in the city of 
New York, and fourth, in the city of New Orleans. 

Mr. Girard, a native of France, was brought up in the 
church of Rome, and at an early age left his home to 
pursue a seafaring life. In 1776 he had risen from a low 
position to be captain of a French merchant vessel which 
in May of that year was bound from New Orleans to 
New York. When off the capes of the Delaware, he 
fired for a pilot, who informed him that, as there was war 
between the colonies and Great Britain, and some British 
ships off the coast, there was danger in his proceeding to 
New York, and advised him to take his ship and cargo 
to Philadelphia. This simple incident made him a citizen 
of the latter city. Commencing business in a small w T ay, 
he largely increased his operations until he founded a 
bank, which is continued under his name to the present 
day, being known as the Girard National Bank. Mr. 
Girard proved of great service to the city, not only by 
his means, but by his personal efforts during the yellow 
fever epidemic which caused so much desolation in 1794. 
He aided many noble charities by his liberal donations, 
and when he died he was the richest man in America. 
His will, which was remarkable for its particularity, was 
drawn up by the late Thomas J. Duane, who was Secre- 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART 25 I 

tary of the Treasury under Jackson and who resigned 
rather than remove the deposits from the United States 
Bank. 

The city government, in carrying out Mr. Girard's 
will for the benefit of poor white orphan boys, com- 
menced, in 1834, the erection of a college which was 
not completed until 1847. This building cost nearly 
three millions of dollars. The architect was Thomas U. 
Walter, one of the most prominent men in his profession 
and afterwards architect of the extension of the capitol 
in Washington. The college edifice and the other build- 
ings surrounding it are all of pure white marble, and the 
main building is regarded as one of the finest in the 
world. On its roof of solid marble over twenty thousand 
persons can find standing-room at the same time. The 
forty-four acres of land on which these buildings were 
erected were outside of the city limits at the time of Mr. 
Girard's death, but are now surrounded by the city. 
Buildings have since been erected for the increased ac- 
commodation of pupils until now there are nine edifices 
beside the main building. The immense estate of Mr. 
Girard has been growing yearly in value ever since his 
death, so that the income now amounts to over a million 
dollars per annum, with a large amount of real estate 
unimproved. At the present time some sixteen hundred 
orphan boys are enjoying the benefits of this noble be- 
quest, being fed, clothed, and educated without charge, 
and, on leaving the college at fourteen or eighteen years 
of age, being furnished with a handsome outfit, while a 
suitable agent is employed to look out for their interests 
during their minority. 

Soon after the death of Mr. Girard, his heirs in France, 



252 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H STUART 

to whom he had left a sum of money small in compari- 
son with his large estate, came to this country and com- 
menced a lawsuit, with a view of breaking the will, so 
that the large sum bequeathed to the college might be 
divided among them. As counsel they secured the ser- 
vices of Daniel Webster, who was then acknowledged to 
be one of the ablest lawyers in the country ; while the 
city of Philadelphia, to defend the will, secured the ser- 
vices of Horace Binney and John Sergeant, the best two 
lawyers of that day in Philadelphia. When the case 
came up before the Supreme Court, sitting in Washing- 
ton, Mr. Webster made one of the greatest speeches of 
his life, basing his strongest arguments on that part of 
Mr. Girard's will which excluded any ecclesiastic, mis- 
sionary or minister, of any sect whatsoever, from ever 
holding or exercising any station or duty in the college, 
or even visiting the grounds connected therewith. The 
case, after protracted argument on both sides, was finally 
decided in favor of sustaining the will, the decision of 
the court being given by Chief-Justice Story of Massa- 
chusetts, who said in substance that, while Mr. Girard, 
for reasons best known to himself, saw fit to make this 
exclusion, yet, in the very next sentence " he desired that 
all the instructors and teachers in the college should take 
pains to instil into the minds of the pupils the purest prin- 
ciples of morality, so that, on their entrance into active 
life, they might, from inclination and habit, evince benev- 
olence towards their fellow-creatures and a love of true 
sobriety and industry, adopting, at the same time, such 
religious tenets as their matured reason might enable 
them to prefer." To which Judge Story added that the 
purest principles of morality were to be found in the 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 253 

Bible and nowhere else, thus making the Bible the great 
text-book of the college, where it is read daily. 

For several years after Girard College was opened, the 
city authorities appointed, from time to time, a number 
of gentlemen who acted as directors of the institution. 
After it had been thus managed for some twenty years, 
Mr. William Welsh, who had been at times one of these 
directors, conceived the idea of having all the charities 
which had been committed to the city government in- 
trusted to a permanent board. Accordingly, he secured 
the services of Judge William Strong to prepare a bill 
transferring all public bequests that had been made al- 
ready, or might hereafter be made, to the city for chari- 
table purposes, to a board appointed by the judges of the 
Supreme Court of the State and the local courts of Phil- 
adelphia, each judge to name one citizen of Philadelphia 
as a member of this board, which was to consist of 
twelve, with the Mayor and Presidents of the Select and 
Common Council for the time being, and to be called 
the Board of City Trusts, with entire power to manage, 
in the name of the City of Philadelphia, over thirty es- 
tates. The twelve gentlemen thus selected were to serve 
for life or during good behavior ; vacancies, occurring by 
death or other causes, to be filled, from time to time, by 
the original appointing power. 

The object which Mr. Welsh had in view in urging 
this change was to secure a more faithful administration 
of the funds entrusted to the city of Philadelphia for 
charitable purposes, and remove the management of 
these charities from the control of political rings who 
might seek their own emolument, or the advantage of 
the party to which they belonged, at the expense of 

22 



254 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

those whom these trusts were intended to benefit. Of 
course the measure was bitterly opposed; but the bill 
prepared by Judge Strong finally passed the Legislature 
and received the signature of the Governor. It was still 
opposed by those in authority as illegal ; and this re- 
sulted in a dead-lock in the collection of the rents of the 
property which it was proposed to transfer to the con- 
trol of this Board. This difficulty was finally solved by 
bringing before the Supreme Court of the State a test 
case, when a decision was rendered sustaining the law. 
There was some talk of an appeal by the city authorities 
to the Supreme Court at Washington, but that appeal 
never was taken. 

In the month of August, 1869, the judges of the Su- 
preme Court of the State, with the judges of the local 
courts, met as a board of appointment in the city of 
Philadelphia ; and, learning incidentally that Judge Brew- 
ster was going to name me as one of the Board, I de- 
clined in advance to serve, on the ground that I had 
already so many public duties to perform ; and I re- 
ported my intention to Judge Williams of the Supreme 
Court, whom I casually met on the street. He remarked, 
in the most emphatic manner, " Stuart,, you must accept, 
even if you should afterwards be compelled to resign, 
as," for reasons which he explained, " we want you espe- 
cially in the Board." Upon his earnest solicitation and 
that of other friends, I consented to receive this appoint- 
ment, which was made August 21, 1869. When the 
Board organized, Mr. Welsh was elected president, and 
he appointed me chairman of the Household Commit- 
tee, which had charge of furnishing all the food, raiment, 
and other material used in the college, together with the 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 255 

care of all the servants employed, — its duties being more 
onerous than those of any other committee, and it being 
charged with larger pecuniary responsibility, as it had 
more money to spend. He gave me on this committee 
faithful men, who greatly assisted me in the discharge 
of my duties. I was continued as chairman from 1869 
to January, 1889, being charged with the expenditure of 
about half a million dollars per annum ; and of course I 
served without any compensation, as did all the other 
members of the committee. At this date, owing to long- 
continued physical feebleness, I declined the further 
chairmanship af the committee, and, at my suggestion, 
Mr. John H. Michener, who had often acted for me dur- 
ing my illness, was appointed chairman, while I was still 
continued a member of this and other committees. 

During the administration of the Board of City Trusts 
several new buildings were erected for Girard College, 
and the number of pupils increased from six hundred to 
fourteen hundred ; while the demand for admission con- 
tinues so great that increased accommodations are pro- 
jected and will be furnished at no distant day. Since 
the organization of this Board a chapel, with a seating 
capacity of two thousand, has been erected, and here 
religious services are held every morning and afternoon, 
conducted by the president or vice-president, or some 
one designated by them ; while on the Sabbath there are 
religious services at the usual church hours in the morn- 
ing and afternoon, conducted either by the officers of the 
college or by laymen who have been selected and ap- 
proved by the Board. These laymen represent various 
evangelical Churches, and are expected to give an appro- 
priate address not exceeding twenty minutes, and entirely 



256 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

free from all sectarian bias. Members of the Board have 
the privilege of addressing the pupils whenever they 
desire it ; and we are especially indebted to Mr. Benjamin 
B. Comegys, a member of the Board, who has a regular 
monthly Sabbath when he speaks to the boys, his ad- 
dresses on these occasions being so exceedingly interest- 
ing that they have been published in book form under 
the title " Advice to Young Men and Boys," a series of 
addresses to the pupils of the Girard College. Illustrated 
with portraits, and published by Gebbie & Co., Phila. 
More recently Mr. Joseph L. Caven, a member of the 
Board, has taken his place among the regular speakers, 
many of whom are judges, from whom the president of 
the college selects from time to time according to circum- 
stances. The whole services upon the Sabbath are ex- 
tremely interesting and impressive, as sixteen hundred 
boys, with their teachers and other officers, read the 
Scriptures and go through with other exercises in con- 
cert. The immense organ and the chorus of boys led 
by a precentor send forth a volume of praise which at 
times has so touched strangers' hearts that they were 
moved to tears. I have had the privilege of taking to 
the platform of the chapel, during these religious services, 
some of the most eminent men of our country and some 
very distinguished visitors from abroad, including the 
present Lord Kinnaird of London, 'the late Samuel 
Morley, and many others. Mr. Morley, whose visit to 
America was in 1881, remarked, on leaving the college, 
" Mr. Stuart, this whole institution, with its buildings 
and grounds and its large school for orphans, surpasses 
anything of the kind that we have in London." 

In 1870, the year in which Mr. Wanamaker was elected 




$.0. <£. 



amxt. 



It 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE II. STUART, 2 57 

president of our own Young Men's Christian Association, 
I attended the International Convention at Indianapolis, 
and afterwards visited what was then our Northwest, ad- 
dressing the Minnesota State Sabbath-School Convention 
in Mankato, and public union meetings in Ingersoll Hall 
in St. Paul and in the Plymouth Congregational church 
in Minneapolis. I was not able to go so far west as Den- 
ver to see the Stuart Reunion church, which had been 
called after me, and which dedicated a fine house of 
worship in 1872, to which my Methodist brother Philip 
Phillips gave an organ. 

The next annual meeting of the Young Men's Chris- 
tian Association was held in Washington, in May, 1871. 
Mr. Wanamaker presided, and the meeting of welcome 
was graced by the presence of President Grant and that 
of a delegation of Indians. I was appointed to convey 
the salutations of the Convention to both. I gave the 
red men some account of the Association and the work 
it had done for young men of America, and I expressed 
the hope that the day was not far distant when their 
tribe and the other tribes would be sending delegations 
to our annual meetings. " Tell them we hope soon to 
have delegates from the Young Men's Christian Asocia- 
tion of the Arrapahoes on this floor." (Great applause, 
in which Little Raven joined by clapping his hands.) 
" We hope to have Little Ravens presiding over these 
Conventions, and putting things through ' quick/ " I 
assured them they had a true and warm friend in General 
Grant. 

The great Chicago fire, in October of this year, which 
left more than a hundred thousand people homeless, 
made large demands on the brotherhood of our people, 

r 22* 



25 8 THE LIFE OF GEORGE II. STUART. 

and I was one of the Committee of Relief in Philadel- 
phia. Along with Joseph Patterson, General Meade, and 
Colonel McKean, I was on the sub-committee which 
visited the desolated city, arriving there on the evening 
of October 25, and spending that and the two following 
days in ascertaining what was doing for the distribution 
of the supplies forwarded and for the general relief of 
urgent wants. We returned on the 28th, and were able 
to report that matters were in as favorable a train as 
could have been expected, and that there had been no 
exaggeration of the needs of the houseless myriads of 
our fellow-citizens. 

One loss by the great fire especially interested me. 
Mr. Moody was among the homeless, his house and fur- 
niture, which had been given him by his friends, being 
burnt, along with his church. Of the thousand children 
in his Sabbath-school not one was left the shelter of a 
home. He himself had saved nothing but his Bible, 
when he fled from his house with his wife and child. 
Those of us who knew what he had done for Chicago 
felt that in the rebuilding of the city that church and 
Sabbath-school must not be left out. An appeal signed 
by Mr. Beecher, Dr. Hall, Dr. Duryea, Mr. Eggleston, 
Mr. Wanamaker, and five others, including myself, was 
issued to the Christian public, asking for contributions 
for this purpose. I was designated as treasurer. I am 
glad to say that Mr. Moody's new church is better and 
more commodious than that whose place it took, as it 
accommodates some twenty-five hundred people. 

In June of 1872 I had a number of guests at my house 
from the Far West. These were Red Cloud, Red Dog, 
Red Leaf, Blue Horse, and some twenty other Indian 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART, 2$$ 

chiefs and their wives, belonging to the Ogalala Sioux, 
in charge of Dr. J. W. Piatt, United States agent for the 
Platte. They already had spoken at a meeting in the 
Cooper Institute, New York, declaring their anxiety to 
embrace the white man's mode of life ; and we had a 
big reception for them in our Academy of Music, at 
which ex-Governor Pollock presided. I introduced my 
guests to the meeting, saying they had told me they 
" want to get in the white man's path quick." Red 
Cloud, Red Dog, and Red Leaf spoke with effect. 

President Grant's Indian policy had aroused some op- 
position among those of our people in the States on the 
Western border who believed in the extermination, not 
the civilization, of the red man, as his ultimate destiny. 
As a part of the talk of the presidential campaign of this 
year, it was announced that the " Peace Policy" would be 
abandoned in deference to their wishes. This was em- 
barrassing to our work, and led me to address a letter 
of inquiry to the President, who replied in the following 
letter, which was very widely discussed, and at once set 
these rumors at rest. 

Executive Mansion, Washington, Oct. 26, 1872. 
George H. Stuart, Esq. : 

My dear Sir, — Your favor of the 24th instant, saying that a 
change in the Indian policy of the Administration is reported to 
be contemplated, is just received. Such a thing has not been 
thought of. If the present policy towards the Indians can be 
improved in any way, I will always be ready to receive sug- 
gestions on the subject. But if any change is made, it must be 
on the side of civilization and Christianization of the Indian. I 
do not believe that our Creator ever placed different races of men 
on this earth with the. view of having the stronger exert all his en- 
ergies in exterminating the weaker. If any change takes place 



260 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

in the Indian policy of the government while I hold my present 
office, it shall be upon the humanitarian side of the question. 

Very truly yours, 

U. S. Grant. 

This letter was very widely published, and had an 
excellent effect. It was within a week after General 
Grant's re-election that we lost General Meade, and at 
his funeral (November 1 1) I rode with the President from 
St. Mark's Church to the cemetery. 

During this summer, which was unusually hot, I was 
privileged to take part in the meeting which established 
summer excursions for poor children to the country. I 
opened the meeting by moving that ex-Governor Pollock 
take the chair, and afterwards addressed it in support of 
resolutions offered by Colonel William V. McKean, of 
the Ledger, reminding the gentlemen assembled that the 
death-rate in the city was five every hour, and that we 
owed this assistance to the children whom a little thought- 
fulness might save. Our city was the first to move in 
the matter. 



CHAPTER XI. 

Tenth Visit to Europe for the Evangelical Alliance — The Jubilee Singers 
in London — Secure Sheshadri for the Alliance — Its Meeting in New 
York — Bishop Cummins and the Reformed Episcopal Church — Ex- 
cursion to Washington — Mr. Hamilton Murray drowned in the Ville du 
Havre— New Building for the Young Men's Christian Association of 
Philadelphia — Mr. Moody's Labors in the Central Presbyterian Church 
— In Great Britain — Dr. Somerville becomes an Evangelist — The Profits 
of the " Gospel Songs" — Mr. Moody invited to Philadelphia — Fitting 
up the Old Depot — His Meetings and their Management — Some of the 
Results — Collection for the Young Men's Christian Association — Labors 
of Mr. and Mrs. George C. Needham — Investigating the Story of " the 
Converted Priest." 

In the summer of 1873 I made my tenth visit to 
Europe, sailing from New York June 14, this time in the 
company of Drs. Hall and Schafif, as representatives of 
the American branch of the Evangelical Alliance, and to 
make arrangements for the great meeting in New York 
in the following autumn. 

Some two months before we started, the Jubilee Singers 
had sailed from Boston for England on their musical 
campaign to raise money for Fisk University in Tennessee. 
It had been my privilege to co-operate with these gifted 
freedmen and freedwomen in their concerts in Philadel- 
phia, promoting their plans, and, when they were about 
to leave us, I gave them a letter of introduction to the 
Earl of Shaftesbury, in which I called attention to the 
remarkable gift of song shown by these former slaves, 
and the excellence of the object for which they were 

261 



262 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART, 

employing it. I also told their manager to be sure to 
have them sing before Queen Victoria, and on that 
occasion to let her majesty hear " Go down, Moses," and 
another piece whose name I forget. On reaching London 
I met their manager, and learned that he had been able 
to carry out this part of the programme to the letter. 
Lord Shaftesbury had received them most cordially, and 
had authorized them to use his name in an invitation to 
the aristocracy and other great people in London. Out 
of this had come an invitation from the Duke of Argyle 
to lunch at Argyle Lodge, and while they were there the 
Duke had taken them into another room, where they 
found the Queen waiting to hear them sing. They 
remembered to sing the two pieces I had suggested, and 
perhaps some others ; and her majesty conveyed her 
thanks to them and hoped that their tour in her domin- 
ions would meet with great success. " What did you do 
next ?" I asked. " I took a cab to the office of The 
Times, and had the story of our reception by royalty put 
into its news columns.'' "And where are you going 
to-night ?" " Oh, we are to attend the annual meeting 
of the Anti-Slavery Society." * " Are you going to sing ?" 
" No, it is managed by the Quakers, who do not believe 
in singing." 

I also went to that meeting, and got a seat on the 
platform between Mr. William Arthur and a member of 
Parliament, both of whom were to speak. I posted each 
of them in turn as to the character of the group of 
colored people who were sitting at the back of the plat- 
form. But they both either forgot, or did not care to 
offend against Quakerly proprieties. So I must do it 
myself. A neat little Friend came across the platform to 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 263 

ask me to speak in support of a motion he handed me in 
writing. I gladly would have done so, but, on looking 
at it, I found the subject was one of which I knew nothing 
whatever, so I had to beg him to excuse me. But as the 
meeting was about to close, he came back with a motion 
to thank the honorable gentleman who had presided. In 
one sense this was nearly as hard as the other, for a 
worse chairman I never had seen, even in England. But 
I embraced the opportunity, and in making the motion I 
digressed so far as to tell the audience that on that plat- 
form there sat a number of emancipated slaves from 
America, whose songs would plead the cause of suffering 
Africa even more eloquently than had been done by any 
of the eloquent speakers they had heard. At once there 
was a cry from before me for the Jubilee Singers, the 
curiosity of the vast audience was aroused, so it had its 
way. Our Tennessee singers had to come to the front 
and sing several of their best songs. 

In July Dr. Hall and myself were in Belfast, and 
attended the meeting of the Irish Assembly. On Sab- 
bath, the 13th, Dr. Hall preached twice, and I made four 
addresses, one being at the close of his evening sermon. 
The next day I spoke to the boys on the training-ship 
Gibraltar, after the annual distribution of prizes, and 
again in the evening at an out-door meeting in Sandy 
Row. Afterwards I went up to Donacloney, and made 
addresses there and at Rosehall, and in the adjacent 
parish of Tullylish, long the scene of the labors of Rev. 
John Johnston, father of the pastor of the Townsend 
Street church in Belfast, and uncle of Dr. William O. 
Johnston of our own city, all three of them my personal 
friends. 



264 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART 

One of the events of this trip was my laying (Septem- 
ber 10) the corner-stone of a new Presbyterian church at 
Higher Broughton, a suburb of Manchester, which was 
built by my brother John. In speaking of the feeling of 
brotherhood which should unite all who love our com- 
mon Lord, I mentioned the good example of a bishop 
of the American Episcopal Church, who never would 
pass a place dedicated to the worship of God without 
putting up a prayer that the house might be filled with 
His glory and become the birthplace of many souls. 

Our object as a deputation of the Evangelical Alliance 
was to secure the attendance of eminent representatives 
of the foreign Churches who were in sympathy with the 
principles and work of the Alliance. I was entrusted 
with the duty of securing some leading Scotchman, 
which I found not so easy, as one after another declined. 
Mr. Thomas Nelson, with whom I was staying in Edin- 
burgh, had invited to meet me at breakfast Dr. Arnot 
and Dr. Cairns, — afterwards Principal Cairns, of the 
United Presbyterian Church, — so that I might have an 
opportunity of pressing my claims upon them for a visit 
to America at the meeting of the Alliance. While I was 
sitting at the breakfast-table, a letter was brought me 
from the Rev. Benjamin Bell, whom, while a student of 
the University of Edinburgh, I had had the privilege of 
entertaining at my house. At the University he had 
received a prize which was quite a large sum of money, 
and Dr. Candlish had said to him, " Instead of going to 
the Continent as other students do, take this money and 
go to the United States, for you will learn something 
that will be useful to you in after life." This he had 
done. He was now settled as a pastor in a Highland 




Rev. NARAYAN SHESHADRI. 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 265 

church. His letter was a warm invitation to have me 
visit him, and closed by stating that he had as his guest 
a native minister from India who was anxious to visit 
New York on the occasion of the approaching Conven- 
tion of the Christian Alliance, but who feared that he 
could not do so for want of means. On looking at the 
letter I was unable to pronounce this Indian's name, 
when Mr. Nelson, reading it aloud, said to me that I 
could get no one who would produce a greater impres- 
sion than Narayan Sheshadri. On my expressing a 
doubt whether he could speak our language, Mr. Nelson 
said, " Yes, he can speak the English language as well 
as any minister in Scotland/' in which opinion all the 
ministers present heartily joined. I at once wrote to Mr. 
Bell that I would see that all Sheshadri's expenses to 
America were paid. About the time that I sailed for 
home from Liverpool, Sheshadri sailed from Glasgow, in 
company with Dr. Miller, who had been his friend in 
India and accompanied him wherever he went in Europe 
and America. It was not until my arrival in America 
that I had the privilege of meeting this consecrated man, 
who continues to this day one of the greatest native 
preachers in India and with whom I am still in corre- 
spondence. On reaching America he was dressed in full 
native costume, with his white turban, and in this preached 
his first sermon in our pulpit in Philadelphia. Here, as 
elsewhere throughout our country, he attracted unusual 
attention, so that, when walking with him through our 
streets while he was my guest, crowds would stop to 
look, wondering who the strange man was that I had on 
my arm. 

At the meeting of the Alliance in New York, President 
m 23 



266 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

Woolsey of Yale College, who presided, after calling 
upon several of the distinguished foreigners to speak, 
including Arnot of Scotland and Fisch of France, found 
on his programme a strange name which he tried to pro- 
nounce, but which I had to announce for him. She- 
shadri was sitting in the centre of the hall where the 
meeting was held, and as he walked up to the platform 
he attracted unusual attention from the vast audience. 
He commenced by saying that since leaving India he 
had more than once heard it stated that foreign missions 
were a failure ; but, raising his voice, he exclaimed, " I 
stand before you to-day, my friends, as a living witness 
to the fact that missions are not a failure ; for he who 
now addresses you, as a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, 
was once worshipped as a god in Bombay." From that 
day, wherever he was announced to preach, crowds gath- 
ered to the churches or halls where the man* with the 
white turban was going to speak. This turban he always 
wore, in the pulpit and in the house, except when en- 
gaged in prayer or asking a blessing at the table. My 
interest in Sheshadri up to the time of his departure and 
after his return to India continued to increase, so that in 
1880 I was once more instrumental in bringing him, by 
way of the Pacific Ocean, to attend the Pan-Presbyterian 
Council which met that year in Philadelphia. Here 
again, as on his previous visit, he attracted great atten- 
tion ; but with all this attention on both visits he did not 
seem at all elated, but maintained, as indeed he still 
maintains, the spirit of an humble follower of the Master. 
The New York meeting of the Evangelical Alliance, 
to which I brought Sheshadri, was one of the most mem- 
orable religious occasions in the history of the American 



THE LIFE VF GEORGE H. STUART. 267 

Churches, both by reason of the eminence of the men 
who took part, and the profound impression they made 
on the public mind. It came at just the right time to 
remind the American people that much of the strongest 
and clearest intellect and of the finest ability in thinking, 
investigating, and speaking stands enlisted on the side 
of evangelical religion. Although I had no claim to 
rank beside such men as Christlieb, McCosh, and others 
of their class, I was assigned the subject of Lay-Preach- 
ing, and spoke at some length on that favorite theme of 
mine. My address on this occasion will be found in the 
Appendix of the present volume. 

The circumstances which led to the organization of 
the Reformed Episcopal Church in connection with this 
meeting of the Alliance were as follows. While I was 
sitting on the platform, a clerical gentleman passed me, 
whose face I at once recollected, although I could not 
identify him for a few minutes, as I had not met him for 
several years. When I did recall him, I renewed my 
acquaintance with Bishop Cummins of Kentucky, and 
also introduced to him my cousin Dr. Hall. Dr. Hall 
was so much impressed by him that he took me aside 
and asked if it were possible that he might get the bishop 
to preach for him on the following Sabbath. I replied, 
" You can but try." On being asked, the bishop excused 
himself, on the ground that he had another engagement 
of six months' standing. Then Dr. Hall said there was 
to be in his church in the afternoon a communion-service 
especially for the members of the Alliance, and asked 
if he would come and take part in its administration. 
Bishop Cummins said he would do so with pleasure. 
He did come, and distributed the wine to the great as- 



268 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART, 

sembly of communicants. It was this participation in a 
Presbyterian service which called forth the animadver- 
sions of Bishop Potter upon Bishop Cummins, as also 
upon Dr. R. Payne Smith, the Dean of Canterbury, for 
participating in a similar service on the same Sabbath in 
Dr. William Adams's church. Next morning he break- 
fasted with Dr. Hall, at whose house there was a con- 
siderable company. He remarked in the course of the 
conversation at table that he had been searching for years 
for what is called a " Bishop White Prayer-Book," being 
the first prayer-book prepared for the use of the Protes- 
tant Episcopal Church after the Revolution had sundered 
the bonds which united her to the Church of England. 
Dr. Hall went upstairs and brought down a bound vol- 
ume containing a number of old books and pamphlets, 
and, behold, one of them was the book Bishop Cummins 
wanted. It appears he had bought it years before in a 
second-hand-book shop in Dublin. He gave it to the 
bishop ; and it would seem that it was his getting this 
book, together with Bishop Potter's criticism, which led 
Bishop Cummins and a body of others who agreed with 
him to withdraw from the Protestant Episcopal Church, 
and to organize another denomination. 

When the Alliance was approaching the close of its 
labors, it was my privilege to invite them as a body to 
visit Princeton, Philadelphia, and Washington, going and 
returning free of expense. This our Committee of Ar- 
rangements was enabled to do through the liberality of 
the railroads, especially the Pennsylvania road, and of 
the Christian people of those cities. At Washington 
(October 12) we were received in the Blue Room of the 
White House by President and Mrs. Grant and the 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 269 

members of the Cabinet. Dr. Tiffany, representing the 
Washington branch of the Alliance, introduced us as a 
body, and Dr. Payne Smith invoked the Divine blessing 
on our country and the world. After this I introduced 
the company severally to the President, as they filed past 
us. As each of them responded to his welcome in his 
own way, there was visible an amusing contrast in their 
bows and other gestures of civility, but our dark-skinned 
Sheshadri, with his oriental dress, his copper-colored 
complexion, and his agile movements, attracted the most 
attention. 

Other events of this year 1873 might be mentioned. 
One was the loss of the steamer Ville du Havre, when 
two of my wife's relatives in whom I had been led to 
take a very deep interest were lost. Mr. Hamilton Mur- 
ray graduated at Princeton in 1872, after having spent 
two years of study in our own University. He was 
noted for great gentleness of disposition and unfailing 
kindness, and won the love of a wide circle of friends. 
His father, who bore the same name, had been a well- 
known citizen of Oswego, New York. The death of a 
younger sister had so worn upon the sympathies and 
health of himself and his sister Martha, that they de- 
cided to make a trip to Europe, leaving his younger 
brother a student at Princeton. They sailed by the ill- 
fated Ville du Havre. When the ship was known to be 
sinking, there was naturally a panic among the passen- 
gers. Those who survived spoke of my dear young 
friend's coolness in that trying hour. Death had no ter- 
rors for him, and he tried to lead others to the same 
ground of confidence and hope that he himself pos- 
sessed. He and his sister were perfectly resigned, and, 

23* 



2/0 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

as the waters engulfed them, were seen standing upon the 
deck with hands clasped together in the act of prayer. 

Earlier in the year I was called to preside over a great 
meeting of representative merchants of Philadelphia, held 
in honor of the establishment of the second American 
steamship line trading with European ports, since the 
collapse of the Collins Line in the years before the war. 
Seventeen years previously I had made an effort to have 
such a line established by united efforts of our merchants 
and manufacturers, but without success. A very different 
degree of interest in the subject now existed, and Phila- 
delphia subsequently to Boston took the lead of other 
seaports in the effort to establish a trans-Atlantic steam- 
ship line which should carry the American flag at the 
masthead. 

Our Young Men's Christian Association was one of the 
first in America to own its own building, but its quarters 
at Tenth and Chestnut Streets had become too strait for 
us, as the membership had grown, and larger plans for 
usefulness had been formed. So it was sold, and a large 
and valuable lot at the corner of Fifteenth and Chestnut 
Streets was secured for a new building. A Board of 
Trustees was formed to take charge of the property, of 
which I was made chairman ; and plans were obtained 
for a building commensurate with the new needs of the 
Association. I presided at the laying of the corner- 
stone, July 15, 1875, an occasion which brought together 
a large concourse of our best citizens. The corner-stone 
was laid by Mr. George W. Mears, chairman of the Build- 
ing Commission, and addresses were made by Rev. Dr. 
Hatfield (Methodist), Dr. George Dana Boardman (Bap- 
tist), Dr. Cooper (Episcopalian), Dr. March (Presbyte- 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 27 1 

rian), while Dr. Thomas D. Conrad (Lutheran), H. S. 
Hoffman (Moravian), and J. R. Danforth (Congregation- 
alist) took part in the religious exercises. I read tele- 
grams from the Earl of Shaftesbury, Mr. Wanamaker, 
who was then in Europe, and Mr. Moody. 

We began to build in prosperous times, proposing to 
spend on the lot and building half a million dollars. 
While the building was in the course of erection the 
great financial panic of 1873 occurred, and this inter- 
fered very largely with our securing the necessary funds, 
so that, when it was completed, we were obliged not only 
to mortgage the property but also to carry a large floating 
debt for several years, which debt was finally wiped out 
mainly through the influence of Mr. Wanamaker and Mr. 
Dwight L. Moody, the latter having secured a large sum 
from a few friends, in New York. Very recently the whole 
of the mortgage debt has been subscribed and paid, chiefly 
as the result of the offer of fifty thousand dollars by Mr. 
John B. Stetson, a prominent layman of the Baptist de- 
nomination, who insisted that the balance be subscribed in 
a given time. This time having expired without the nec- 
essary funds being raised, the offer was kindly renewed, 
and not until the day when the second renewal was ex- 
piring was the entire sum secured, which at the last was 
done mainly through the efforts and means of Mr. Wana- 
maker. Thus that valuable property, with its large rental 
from stores, is now free from debt, and is the property of 
the Young Men's Christian Association, standing as a 
monument to the Christian liberality and philanthropic 
spirit of our city. 

The great event in the religious history of our city 
during the year 1875 was the series of evangelistic meet- 



2/2 THE LIFE OF GEORGE II STUART. 

ings held by Mr. D. L. Moody in the old freight-depot 
of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Even before the war I 
knew of Mr. Moody as a faithful laborer in the Sabbath- 
school cause in Chicago, and as such, it will be remem- 
bered, I spoke of him in Edinburgh in i860. In the 
labors of the Christian Commission he was one of our 
most efficient workers, and the first of our delegates to 
enter Richmond after its evacuation by the Confederate 
government. After the war it was my privilege to bring 
him to Philadelphia in 1866, before he had become widely 
known to the country, and it was with some difficulty that 
I procured any church for his evangelistic meetings. I 
finally obtained the Central Presbyterian church, of which 
Dr. Alexander Reed had become pastor through my rec- 
ommendation. Mr. Moody's preaching soon crowded the 
house, and the lecture-room at the close of his meetings 
was thronged with inquirers. Yet some really good 
people said it was a mistake to have the pulpit occupied 
by a man who murdered the King's English, as Mr. 
Moody certainly did when he first began to preach. I 
replied that I cared little or nothing about his grammar, 
so long as he brought sinners to Christ. And Dr. New- 
ton of Epiphany church was of the same opinion, for he 
was so impressed by his work that he opened that large 
church to him. 

When Mr. Moody made his first trip to Europe in 
1866, he very naturally asked me for letters of introduc- 
tion. My secretary, Mr. George S. Chambers, at my re- 
quest, drew up a general letter addressed to Lord Shaftes- 
bury, Lord Kinnaird, Mr. Spurgeon, Newman Hall, and 
other prominent workers in the Master's cause in Great 
Britain. Knowing my very high estimate of Mr. Moody, 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H STUART 273 

he expressed this in such very strong language that, 
although I believed every word of it, I hesitated about 
signing it. I did sign it, however, and I think those who 
received it would have said that subsequent evidence sat- 
isfied them that I had not spoken too strongly. 

But it was on his third visit to Great Britain, in 1873, 
that Mr. Moody, now accompanied by Mr. Sankey, made 
the deepest and widest impression. After preaching to 
Mr. Spurgeon's great congregation and before similar 
audiences, it was found that the largest halls in London 
were too small to accommodate the crowds which flocked 
to hear him ; and a large building was erected, which 
could be taken down and set up in section after section 
of the city of London, but even this was not large 
enough to accommodate the crowds which thronged to 
hear Mr. Moody preach the Gospel and Mr. Sankey 
sing it. In the Life of the late Earl of Shaftesbury 
(published by Hodder and Stoughton) there is an ex- 
tract from his diary in which he gives the impression 
made upon him by these remarkable services. After 
speaking in the most exalted terms of Sankey's singing 
to his own accompaniment, he refers to Moody's unmin- 
isterial appearance as he arose to preach the Gospel, and 
says, " Moody will do more in bringing sinners to Christ 
in one hour than Canon Liddon" (the most famous 
preacher in the English Church) " will do in a century." 
My letter of introduction was, it will be seen, not much 
out of the way. I was in England at the same time 
with Mr. Moody ; but he was preaching in Newcastle, 
and, though he wrote me to come up and help him in 
his inquiry-room work, I was obliged to deny myself 
that pleasure, and we did not meet while I was abroad. 



274 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

One of the notable results of Mr. Moody's labors in 
Great Britain was that Dr. Somerville, one of the oldest 
pastors in Glasgow, resigned his charge and gave him- 
self to the work of an evangelist, preaching the word 
through all lands, frequently through an interpreter. 
My own acquaintance with him was somewhat remarka- 
ble. The only Sabbath I ever spent in Montreal, I was 
directed to a Presbyterian church which was without a 
pastor, and whose pulpit on that morning was filled by 
a stranger. I was impressed by his power as a preacher, 
but could not learn his name from those of the con- 
gregation whom I had the opportunity to ask. It was 
years after this that I was travelling up the Caledonian 
Canal on a Friday, with the expectation of spending the 
Sabbath in Inverness, and of hearing Donald Frazer, 
who was at that time settled in that city, but afterwards 
in London. I knew that Mr. Frazer had been in Mon- 
treal on the very Sabbath when I was there, and, when 
I saw my unknown preacher sitting on the deck of the 
boat, I at once inferred that it had been he whom I had 
heard. I went forward and greeted him as Mr. Frazer, 
and mentioned having heard him in Montreal. " Do 
you remember the text ?" I gave it. " Yes, I was the 
preacher, but my name is Somerville. Who are you ?" 
I told him. " You are the man who addressed our Free 
Assembly in 1866 about the Christian Commission. You 
must come with me to-night to a Bible meeting I have 
to attend." I went with him, and addressed the meeting 
at his request. Afterwards I had the pleasure of enter- 
taining him in Philadelphia. 

During one of the visits of Messrs. Moody and Sankey 
to London they were charged with making money by 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART 2?$ 

the sale of their hymn-books, the royalty on which was 
received by their treasurer, Mr. Matheson, an eminent 
London banker. The amount of this royalty, which was 
considerably over five thousand pounds, was offered to 
the evangelists and declined. Mr. Matheson then said, 
" This is American money, and we cannot keep it here ;" 
and so proposed to send it to America to aid the cause 
of Christ in this land. On asking the name of some 
gentleman to whom it might be sent, Mr. Moody men- 
tioned several names, and among the number my own. 
Having known me better than the others, Mr. Matheson 
enclosed me a draft for the amount, at the same time 
suggesting that the evangelists were entitled to it. I re- 
ceived this draft when gold was at a premium, and sold 
it for over thirty thousand dollars ; and, as the evangelists 
still refused to receive it, I sent it to my friend Mr. John 
V. Farwell of Chicago, that he might use it in paying 
off the heavy debt which, I understood, rested upon 
Moody's great missionary church. On returning to 
America Mr. Moody invited Mr. Farwell, Mr. Dodge 
of New York, and myself to visit Northfield. The object 
of this invitation was to ask us to act as trustees for the 
royalty-fund of the hymn-book about to be published 
by Messrs. Biglow & Main in this country ; and to dis- 
pose of that fund, from time to time, for evangelistic 
work disconnected with any church use. I was elected 
chairman of this board of trust, and Mr. Dodge was 
chosen treasurer. The receipts from the sale of these 
books while the trust was in our hands (a term of several 
years) amounted to over three hundred thousand dollars ; 
and this sum we appropriated, according to our own 
judgment, in conformity with the general instructions of 



276 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

Mr. Moody. Among other things, the building known 
as Recitation Hall at Mt. Hermon School was erected. 
The sale of these books has reached many millions, but 
neither Mr. Moody nor Mr. Sankey has ever received a 
penny from this source. 

On the return of Messrs. Moody and Sankey from 
England in 1875, there was a great desire expressed in 
Philadelphia to have them visit our city, Mr. Moody 
never having been there since he and Mr. Sankey in 
1 87 1 had united their talents for the service of the Mas- 
ter. At one of the largest ministerial meetings ever held 
in Philadelphia, in the lecture-room of the Arch Street 
Methodist Church, over which the Rev. Dr. Harper pre- 
sided, a unanimous and cordial invitation was extended 
to these evangelists to visit our city at an early day. A 
committee of ministers, of which Dr. Newton was chair- 
man, was appointed to superintend the spiritual part of 
the work ; while a committee of laymen, of which I was 
made chairman, was constituted to look after the busi- 
ness matters in connection with the proposed meetings. 
On account of failing health, I at first declined serving ; 
but Mr. Moody, who was then the guest of Mr. Wana- 
maker, hearing that I had declined, insisted on my act- 
ing, saying that he would pray for me. And here I may 
add that for the first time in thirty years I was entirely 
free from asthma for over six months following this 
promise, and that during all the cold winter weather, 
and amid such exposure as I for years had not dared to 
endure. Mrs. Stuart was so much impressed by this 
fact that she recently wrote Mrs. Moody to get Mr. 
Moody to pray for me again. 

When our business committee met, the first question 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 2*]*] 

was, Where shall we find a building large enough and 
central enough for the intended meetings? Various 
halls were named, including the large Academy of 
Music ; but I insisted that none of these would be large 
enough to warrant us in bringing these evangelists to 
Philadelphia, and that we must raise the money neces- 
sary to erect a special building for their use. At this 
time I, with one other gentleman in Philadelphia, was 
aware that Mr. Wanamaker had been negotiating with 
the Pennsylvania Railroad Company for the purchase of 
the large freight-depot at Thirteenth and Market Streets, 
which had recently been abandoned, and which is now 
covered by his immense warehouse. As the offer of 
Mr. Wanamaker had not been accepted, I applied 'to 
Mr. Thomas A. Scott, the president of the road, to know 
on what terms he would rent the freight-depot to us for 
the proposed meetings. His reply was, " One dollar 
per annum, provided you will give us possession on 
thirty days' notice." I cabled this to Mr. Wanamaker 
(who was in Europe at the time), and he replied that he 
was going to start at once for home. Soon after his 
arrival he completed the purchase of the old depot, and 
granted us the free use of it as long as we desired it. 

In order to prepare it for these meetings a large amount 
of money was required ; but this was quickly subscribed, 
an architect was secured, and the vast edifice was fitted 
with a complete wooden interior structure to deaden the 
noise from the street, with new floors, a platform to seat 
one thousand persons, and eight thousand nine hundred 
and four chairs on the main floor, thirteen hundred and 
four on the platform, and seven hundred and fifty-two in 
the committee-rooms. These ten thousand nine hundred 

24 



278 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

and sixty chairs I purchased and had shipped from Con- 
necticut, at a cost of twenty-eight cents per chair ; and 
this, I believe, was the largest lot of chairs ever bought 
in this country. Two-thirds of the way the floor sloped 
upward until it reached the Market Street front, an ar- 
rangement which gave every one in the audience equal 
opportunity of seeing and hearing. A vestibule thirty- 
three feet wide ran round three sides of the building, and 
ten doors gave egress from this, the largest being the 
three on Market Street, which were the chief entrances. 
There were four main aisles from eight to ten feet 
in width, and four cross-aisles six to eight feet wide. 
Speaking-tubes gave immediate communication between 
the chief usher and his three hundred unpaid assistants ; 
and between his platform and the speakers' platform, as 
also with the Central Police Station, there was telegraphic 
communication. The building was lighted by about a 
thousand gas-jets. Although the hall was so large, its 
acoustic properties were found admirable, and Mr. Moody 
could be heard perfectly in any part of the building. 

While I was superintending the work of preparation, 
on a cold day in October, the building being unheated, 
one of our prominent ministers happened to come in, and 
asked me how many seats were being provided. When 
I told him the number, he expressed great astonishment, 
saying, " Why, Spurgeon could not fill these chairs on 
every week-night but Saturday ; and do you expect 
Moody to fill them ?" I told him that I did. Shortly 
afterwards this same minister said to a friend of mine, 
after relating the circumstance referred to, that he never 
before thought that I was a fit subject for an insane 
asylum. While the doors were closed on a cold winter 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 279 

night in January, and orders had been given to allow no 
other persons to come in, the house being crowded, 
this same minister knocked at the door and had his card 
sent up to me on the platform, with a request that I 
would have him let in, which I did. 

From November, 1875, until April, 1876, this vast hall 
was so crowded at times, and that in all weathers, that 
the street-cars were blocked up by the throngs outside 
seeking admission. We often had to hold separate meet- 
ings for men and women, in order better to accommodate 
the vast numbers who desired to attend the services. 
People came from far and near in the country, and a day 
seldom passed without my receiving many letters asking 
me to secure seats for the writers. Among these letters 
there came one from an eminent judge of the Supreme 
Court, asking how it would be possible for the members 
of that court to gain admission without being obliged to 
mingle with the throng that waited for the opening of 
the doors in the streets. After fixing the night, I replied 
that I should be obliged to place the judges under arrest 
at the corner of Thirteenth and Chestnut Streets, where 
a band of police officers would conduct them to the plat- 
form. It may not be amiss to state that Mr. Moody's 
preaching was not in vain in the case of one at least of 
these gentlemen, who was converted, in answer to the 
prayers of a Christian wife. 

Among other distinguished men from a distance whom 
I was enabled to furnish with seats on the platform were 
^President Grant and most of the members of his Cabinet, 
who were accompanied there by Mr. Childs, at whose 
house I had dined with them the previous day, when it 
was arranged that I should secure them seats for the 



280 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

next evening. The only one of all the meetings that I 
missed attending was on this evening when I dined with 
Mr. Childs ; and this I would not have done but for the 
prospect of securing the attendance of General Grant and 
his Cabinet. Among the eminent divines who came to 
Philadelphia on purpose to attend were Drs. Hodge and 
McCosh of Princeton, whose visit resulted subsequently 
in Messrs. Moody and Sankey visiting that place, where 
they held crowded meetings for the professors, students, 
and citizens, producing results which are felt to this day. 
Next after the power and spirituality of Mr. Moody's 
preaching, the most notable thing in the management of 
these meetings was his generalship in handling his 
audience of over ten thousand men and women of all 
classes in society, while dealing with topics which pro- 
foundly stir the emotions, and while seeking to have 
them so stirred. As having some experience in presiding 
over large assemblages, I can truly say that his leader- 
ship was wonderful. Every one was impressed by it who 
gave a moment's thought to the difficulties of the situa- 
tion. No interruptions, no ejaculations even were allowed. 
When a colored woman could no longer keep in her 
" Hallelujahs !" he stopped preaching, and said, " We will 
sing ' Rock of Ages' while the person is taken out." After 
the singing, he quietly said, " In a great audience like 
this it is necessary to have perfect quiet ; and, although 
I do not object to a hearty ' Amen !' when a man feels it 
in his heart, it will be much better for you to wait till 
you get outside, and then you can go all the way home 
shouting ' Amens !' as loud as you please." It was this 
wise insistence upon self-control which saved these and 
all Mr. Moody's meetings from those nervous and physi- 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H STUART. 28 1 

cal extravagances which sometimes have attended even a 
genuine work of grace. 

Mr. Moody took the command on the very first day 
of the meeting, in a pleasant and courteous but firm way. 
He told the huge audience gathered for the first time, and 
most of them entire strangers to him, " The doors will be 
closed when the service begins, because we have got to 
have all quiet during these services. We shall close 
these doors if the place is only half full, and if the Presi- 
dent of the United States comes after that he can't get 
in. If the chairman of the committee" — meaning my- 
self — " is not here by half-past seven, we shall keep him 
out." And this was done to the letter. 

The arrangements as to the character and order of the 
meetings were made with Dr. Newton's committee of 
ministers. Three services a day were held in the depot, 
except on Saturday, some for men only, others exclu- 
sively for women. Some were held especially for Chris- 
tian workers, while others were for the general public, and 
were followed by inquiry-meetings in which Mr. Moody 
had the aid of a large staff of ministers and laymen. On 
Sabbath there were three such services daily, Mr. Moody 
preaching at all three, in addition to his week-night 
labors. Mr. Wanamaker conducted a young men's meet- 
ing in the beautiful Methodist church at Broad and Arch 
Streets, while Mr. John Field — our new postmaster — 
conducted one for parents in the Baptist church at the 
opposite corner. Meetings for reformed men and in the 
interests of temperance were held in the Tabernacle 
Presbyterian church (Dr. McCook's), which was very 
near, and many drunkards were reached. The noon- 
day meeting of Friday in the depot was a temperance 

24* 



282 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART 

meeting. There were fifteen daily prayer-meetings 
which ran parallel with the meetings in the old depot. 

At one of the last meetings in the depot, Rev. Dr. 
Plummer took the platform, and Mr. Moody presented 
himself in the audience in the character of an inquirer. 
He presented one after another all the difficulties and 
objections which are put forward by those who are in 
any degree awakened to the need of a Saviour, and was 
answered by Dr. Plummer with wonderful force and felic- 
ity, every answer being drawn from or grounded upon 
scripture. These questions and answers were printed in 
a tract, and very widely circulated. 

There were many incidents connected with Mr. 
Moody's meetings in Philadelphia for which I cannot 
find room, but which would be of profound interest. I 
may give two or three as sample cases. Three young 
men came to our meetings out of curiosity, and mainly 
with a view to ridicule the Gospel. One of these was 
arrested by the Spirit and was led to go into an inquiry- 
meeting at the close of the service. Soon after, this 
young man gave his heart to Christ and connected him- 
self with one of our churches. At the time of his con- 
version he was working as a mechanic for a well-known 
family in our city. The lady of the house, hearing of 
his conversion, asked him if he wouldn't like to become 
a minister. He said he would if he had the means to 
prepare himself for the work. This lady, at her own 
expense, sent him first to the University of Pennsylvania 
and then to Princeton Seminary. After graduating at 
the Seminary, he was licensed to preach by the Presby- 
tery of Philadelphia, and soon thereafter, if not before, he 
had several invitations to take charge of vacant churches. 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 283 

He finally selected one in our city which had been consid- 
ered by many very hopeless. In a short time the church 
was filled, and under his ministry there grew up one of 
the most encouraging congregations in the city. It was 
my pleasure to assist in one of the communions at this 
church, and, at the close of the service, the pastor in- 
sisted upon my addressing the communicants, which I 
did with such tender feelings, awakened by the thought 
of the young pastor's brief history, that many were 
moved to tears. During the past year I had the privi- 
lege of introducing this young minister, the Rev. Fran- 
cis E. Smiley, to my friends in Europe, his congregation 
having given him six months' leave of absence, with the 
expenses of himself and his young wife paid, to visit the 
Old World — not, as he said, to see sights, but to exam- 
ine into the methods of reaching the masses with the 
story of the Cross. 

One other noted case was that of a working-man, tall 
of stature, of dissipated habits, who was serving the devil 
as few men of his class could do. He wandered into the 
meetings with the crowd, hardly knowing why he was 
there ; but he was arrested by the Spirit of God, and I 
had the privilege of talking with him at one of the in- 
quiry-meetings. Soon after he was brought to Christ, 
he became an active member of one of our churches. 

While I was riding on the train to New York not long 
ago, a gentleman who sat by my side was speaking in a 
deprecatory manner of the Moody meetings, expressing 
great doubt as to the permanence of the results. Just 
at that moment a prominent young man of our city was 
passing us, and I hailed him to ask him his opinion of 
the meetings, which he had often attended. He had 



284 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H STUART. 

been for some time an active Christian worker, and he 
told us — what I had not known before — that he had 
been converted at these meetings. I then asked him if 
he knew what had become of the working-man whom I 
have just mentioned. " Why," he exclaimed, " he and I 
belong to the same church," and, on further inquiry as 
to how the man was holding out, he, to my surprise, ex- 
claimed, " That man is doing more to bring sinners to 
Christ than any officer of the church." 

One more case I may mention. It was that of a young 
woman to whom my attention was called in the inquiry- 
room by two ladies who had been talking to her, but 
found her so deeply affected that they were unable to 
understand what was her condition. I discovered that 
she was a poor fallen girl who was leading a life of in- 
famy. Like many others she had wandered into our 
meetings to see the crowd, and was led to remain. 
Nothing seemed to affect her in the address of Mr. 
Moody but his exclamation, " That poor harlot may find 
peace in believing in Christ to-night." She felt as if this 
message was directed to herself. After I had talked with 
her for some time, and had offered prayer in her behalf, 
I could not resist the desire of taking her to Mr. Moody's 
room. He was locked in after the afternoon services, pre- 
paring for the great meeting in the evening, with strict 
injunction to me not to have him disturbed. I knocked 
at his door and insisted upon his seeing and talking with 
this poor fallen girl. After he had done so, he suggested 
having her taken to some Christian home for the night. 
I succeeded in gaining admission for her to the house of 
one of our city pastors. Mr. Moody saw her the next 
day, and to him and the pastor she gave a history of her 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 285 

case which touched the hearts of those who heard it. 
Our sympathies were enlisted to restore her to her for- 
mer home, as her mother was still living, and in this we 
were ultimately successful. Soon after she joined the 
church of this pastor; and on one occasion, when I was 
visiting its Sabbath-school, I asked him how she was 
getting on. To my great joy, he told me that she was 
doing more to bring other sinners to Christ than any one 
else in his congregation. 

Many equally touching incidents might be given con- 
nected with these Philadelphia meetings, which were 
almost the beginning of Mr. Moody's wide reputation 
and eminent success as a worker for Christ in the great 
cities of our land. 

Mr. Thomas K. Cree, who was secretary of the Com- 
mittee of Arrangements, sums up the results of Moody 
and Sankey meetings in Philadelphia as follows : 

"The number of conversions at these meetings was very great. 
Meetings were started in many of the churches, and the accessions 
to the churches in the city, and for hundreds of miles around it, 
were very large. At the close of the series a Convention of three 
days was held, and some twenty-five hundred ministers and lay- 
men came to attend its sessions. Some who had come over five 
hundred miles afterwards reported accessions of over a hundred 
each to their churches as a result of the Convention. To say that 
ten thousand were added to the churches as a result of these won- 
derful meetings, I would not think an exaggeration. Ministers 
and laymen were quickened, and church-work of all kinds was 
greatly stimulated. Very full reports of the sermons and meetings 
were published in all the secular and religious papers of the city 
and neighborhood, and extensive reports were sent to the papers 
of the country by the Associated Press. Seventeen thousand 
copies of a little book for inquirers were sent out to those 
whose names had been given in as such, and many thousands 



286 THE LIFE OF GEORGE II. STUART. 

were visited and dealt with in their homes after the meetings 
closed." 

The expenses of these meetings, including the fitting 
of the building and the running costs of management, 
amounted to over forty thousand dollars, for which our 
committee made provision. Not a dollar of this went to 
either Mr. Moody or Mr. Sankey. We did not pay even 
their hotel-bill, as Mr. Moody was the guest of Mr. 
Wanamaker, and Mr. Sankey of Mr. John F. Keen, so 
that there was none to pay. Nor would Mr. Moody 
allow of any collections at our meetings, so that all the 
money required was raised by private subscription. In 
view of the character of the audience this was eminently 
wise, as it divorced the free Gospel from all thoughts of 
contribution to the support of those who labored in it. 
In similar circumstances the Apostle Paul followed ex- 
actly the same course, from the same views of Christian 
expediency. 

At one of our last meetings, however, Mr. Moody 
himself suggested my taking the chair and raising a sub- 
scription of a hundred thousand dollars for the new 
building of the Young Men's Christian Association in 
our city. Previous to this meeting beino; held, I intro- 
duced Mr. Moody to one of our citizens, a man with a 
large heart and ample means, who was deeply interested 
in Mr. Moody's work in our city. After being introduced 
to my friend, Mr. Moody, in his usual brusque way, said 
he would like to dine with the gentleman some day ; but 
did not wish him to invite any friends to meet him, as he 
had declined all invitations to accept of the hospitalities 
of our citizens, and added, " I wish you to know, in ad- 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE II STUART. 287 

vance, that that dinner is going to cost you a hundred 
thousand dollars," intending to appeal to him for a hand- 
some sum to swell the first, last, and only collection taken 
in our great tabernacle. On meeting Mr. Moody the 
next morning after the dinner, and asking him about his 
success with my friend, he said, " I only got twenty-five 
thousand out of him/' With this handsome subscrip- 
tion to start with, we commenced our collection for the 
Young Men's Christian Association building, which re- 
sulted in the addition of a hundred thousand more to 
the amount which Mr. Moody had already secured. I 
started the subscription with this twenty-five thousand 
without giving the name of my friend the donor, and, 
though some suspected who it was, the name never was 
mentioned. 

Mr. Moody's labors from that time to this are well 
known to the Christian world, and have been productive 
of untold good in Europe as well as America ; nor does 
he seem to be losing, but rather gaining, in his power to 
sway the hearts of the masses and to turn the wealth of 
men whom God has prospered into the treasury of the 
Lord. There are few greater men living, and no more 
useful men, than Dwight L. Moody.* 



* Mr. Stuart and Dr. Hall jointly published a volume giving an account 
of "The American Evangelists in Great Britain" in 1872, which had a 
wide circulation. A good account of the Philadelphia meetings and of 
Mr. Moody's work generally will be found in Rev. W. F. P. Noble's " A 
Century of Gospel-Work" (Philadelphia, 1876). Mr. Noble says: "To 
us, in the depot meetings, there was no sight more interesting and touch- 
ing than the daily presence upon the platform of Messrs. George H. 
Stuart and John Wanamaker, — the gray head and the brown head con- 
sulting and rejoicing together, — the one overcoming the infirmities of 
advancing years, and bringing forth fruit in old age, with tenfold the fire 



288 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

After this visit of Mr. Moody and Mr. Sankey to 
Philadelphia my interest in the work of evangelists was 
greater than ever before, and, so far as health and 
strength permitted, I did all in my power to bring them 
to our city and to help them in their labors there. 
Among the several with whom I have been thus privi- 
leged to work I cannot forbear mentioning my warm 
personal friends Rev. George C. Needham and wife, 
whose visits to the city have resulted in untold good, 
not only in bringing sinners to Christ, but also in awaken- 
ing in the hearts of the professed followers of Jesus a 
deeper and ever-increasing interest in promoting the 
Redeemer's kingdom. Mr. Needham's visits to Europe, 
where he is laboring as I write this, have been wonder- 
fully blessed of God, especially in my native land, Ire- 
land, where he was early brought to Christ and dedicated 
himself to the work of an evangelist. It was my privi- 
lege to meet him shortly after he first visited this coun- 
try, which he did at the suggestion of Mr. Moody, who 
had met him on the other side and had learned to love 
him for his devotion to the Master's cause. The Bible- 
readings of his dear wife have been an inspiration to 
myself, as well as to many others who study that precious 
book, which has been so much neglected by the church, 
but which increases in interest the longer and more care- 
fully it is studied. 

I was asked about this time to investigate the truth of 
a curious story, which had made some sensation in Edin- 



and enthusiasm which God gives -to most of us younger men in our best 
days ; the other consecrating his executive ability and gifts of mind and 
voice to the service of God." 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 289 

burgh. An excellent lady of that city, a Mrs. Stewart, 
who was much devoted to visiting the poor and the neg- 
lected people of its wynds, had published a little tract 
called " The Converted Priest." On one of her visits to 
a poor dying boy, whom she understood to be a Roman 
Catholic, she met a priest on the stairs of the tenement- 
house, whom she supposed to be on his way to the same 
bedside. She stopped him and begged him to say noth- 
ing to the lad which would destroy the effect of what 
she had said of the necessity of trusting only to the 
finished work of Christ in a dying hour. It was several 
months afterwards that she received a letter, which pro- 
fessed to come from this same priest in New York city. 
It said that he had been so much impressed by her words 
that he had obtained from the dying boy some of the 
tracts she had left, and that their perusal had opened his 
eyes to the falsity of the Roman Catholic system. Find- 
ing his position in Scotland extremely uncomfortable, he 
had decided to break away from old associations by 
coming to America. He was in poor health, and ex- 
pected to make his home somewhere in the country, but 
in the mean time he could not refrain from expressing 
his great obligations to her for her faithfulness. In 
neither this letter nor any that followed it did he speak 
of needing money, nor did she send him any from first 
to last. The last of the correspondence was a letter 
which professed to come from an American clergyman 
in Wisconsin, stating that the converted priest had died 
an edifying and triumphant death at his house, and had 
requested him to notify Mrs. Stewart of the fact, and to 
send her certain papers, one of which was a diary he had 
kept since he came to America. All these letters bore 
n / 25 



29O THE LIFE OF GEORGE H STUART. 

the stamp of the Glasgow post-office, through which 
American letters reach Scotland. But Mrs. Stewart did 
not observe that none of them bore an American post- 
mark. 

As she had perfect confidence in the good faith of her 
correspondent, Mrs. Stewart extracted from the letters 
and the diary the materials for a very interesting tract, 
which was circulated by tens of thousands, was trans- 
lated into French, and — as she claims — was the means 
of converting a considerable number of Romanists from 
the errors of their Church. * But the Roman Catholics 
of Edinburgh had their attention called to the story, and 
they declared that it was an utter falsehood. No priest 
had left the diocese of Edinburgh under any such cir- 
cumstances, and they could put their hand on every man 
who had been a priest in Edinburgh for a time much 
further back than Mrs. Stewart's story required. They 
published their denial of the story in a tract as nearly as 
possible like that of Mrs. Stewart ; and this provoked a 
newspaper controversy of some sharpness on both sides. 
The good lady's pastor persuaded her to put all the 
documents of the case into my hands to have the matter 
investigated. 

My suspicion as to the genuineness of the diary was 
at once aroused by a perusal of it. I found that the 
part which related to New York implied no such knowl- 
edge of that city as even a visitor must acquire. While 
its author spoke of going along the streets, no name of 
a street was given. He also used such expressions as 
" the coffee-room" in speaking of his " boarding-place/' 
although these terms never are used in America. I then 
looked for his clerical friend in Wisconsin. I obtained 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 29I 

lists of the ministers of all the Protestant denominations 
in America, but none of them had any such name. I 
found in the Post-office Directory no such town in Wis- 
consin as his letter was dated from. As there was one 
tow T n whose name was nearly the same as that given, I 
sent a registered letter to him at that place ; but it lay for 
months unclaimed, and then was returned to me. Dr. 
Hall, on examining the tract, found that the most edify- 
ing portions of the correspondence had been taken from 
the memoirs of the sainted Robert Murray McCheyne. 

In fact it was evident that Mrs. Stewart had been made 
the victim of an imposture, whose motive is a mystery. 
Had there been any effort to obtain money from her, the 
mystery would have vanished. That she acted in good 
faith throughout is beyond question ; and I am glad to 
know that her tract was withdrawn from circulation 
after she had received my report on the character of the 
story. 



CHAPTER XII. 

Liquidation of Stuart & Brother — Elected President of the Merchants 
National Bank — Associations with 13 13 Spruce Street — Meeting Gar- 
field at Chautauqua — His Death — Welcome Dennis Osborne to America 
— The Profound Impression he Makes — Gifts from Presbyterians — His 
Speech at the Cumberland Valley Reunion — Newman Hall — Major 
Malan — Mr. Baldwin's Mission in Morocco — Death of Bishop Simp- 
son — Hudson Taylor's Chinese Mission — The Story of John C. Stewart 
— Death of General Grant — His Last Public Appearance— Death of 
Mr. Gough — Evangelistic Labors of Alexander Patterson — The Con- 
ductor. 

In 1878 I made what I presume will be my last visit 
to the Old World, — the eleventh, in all. Before my 
starting, in May, a private meeting was held at my house, 
which resulted in the organization of the News-boys' Aid 
Society, to care for a much-neglected class of boys in 
our city. It has done and still is doing a good work for 
them. 

The year 1879 was that in which the firm of Stuart & 
Brother came to an end, after an existence of more than 
half a century. My own connection with it as a partner 
began in 1837, and had lasted more than forty years. In 
1878 it was deemed advisable, for various reasons, to re- 
organize it as a joint-stock company with limited liability 
under English laws, various partners on both sides of the 
ocean holding shares. About a year after this arrange- 
ment, and through unforeseen causes, the new company 
went into liquidation. I am thankful to be able to say 
that, although I lost by this a fortune which had been 
292 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 293 

amassed by years of toil, and had to begin the world 
anew at the age of sixty-three, immediately thereafter 
some of my oldest friends — I may mention Mr. A. J. 
Drexel, Mr. William Arrott, and Colonel Thomas G. 
Hood — came to me and proposed to start a new national 
bank of which I was to be the president. The books for 
subscriptions were opened, and so great was the demand 
for stock that some of my friends, including Mr. Drexel, 
withdrew a part of their subscriptions to leave room for 
others, who felt that they should have the opportunity to 
subscribe. I was especially touched by a letter from Dr. 
Potter— now Bishop Potter — of New York, who wrote 
to Mr. Drexel to secure ten thousand dollars of the stock, 
as an expression of his sympathy with me in my financial 
troubles. Another New York subscription was from Mr. 
William E. Dodge, but the committee were unable to 
supply the demand in our own city, to which they gave 
the preference. 

I became president of the Merchants National Bank 
in 1880, and continued to hold this office until May, 1888, 
when, being broken in health, I felt it my duty to the 
stockholders to resign. I may say without making any 
invidious comparisons that this Board of Directors in- 
cluded some of the largest and most influential merchants 
and manufacturers of the city. And as an expression 
of my kind remembrance of my relations with them, I 
append their names : William Arrott, James Bonbright, 
Thomas Dolan, James H. Gay, James Graham, R. H. C. 
Hill, James S. Moore, Samuel G. Scott, J. Frailey Smith, 
John Wanamaker, James Whitaker, and William Wood. 
It excited some remark when Mr. Thomas Dolan's name 
appeared in the list of our directors, as he always had 

25* 



294 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

refused to accept of this office, although often asked to 
do so. When asked what had led him to depart from 
his rule, he said it was my own kindness to him when as 
a boy he called at Stuart & Brother's to collect drafts for 
the firm by which he then was employed. 

Not the least painful result of my change in circum- 
stances was my parting from my home at 1 3 1 3 Spruce 
Street, where I had lived for nearly thirty years, where 
several of my children had been born, and where my 
eldest son had died in the faith and hope of the Gospel. 
For twenty years I had had Dr. Henry A. Boardman as 
my next-door neighbor, and the house was full of asso- 
ciations with other friends, of earlier and later times, 
whom the good mercy of God had given me. As I look 
back upon the past and try to recall their names and their 
loved faces, I find memory often fails me, although the 
heart lets none slip. There were the early friends of my 
own and the closely related Churches of the city: Mr. 
Orr, Mr. Sterling, Mr. Ray, and others of my associates 
in the session ; Drs. Sterrett and McAuley, as well as my 
own two honored and loved pastors in the First church, 
besides John and Robert Macmillan, Robert Patterson, 
Alexander M. Stewart, and other of the ministry of our 
own Church, which always held an exceptionally high 
position among the Presbyterian Churches as regards 
ability and character in its ministry. Next to these come 
friends in the Church of my fathers and my boyhood, 
such as Dr. Joseph P. Cooper, Dr. Dales, Dr. Church, 
and Mr. Cunningham Jackson. Nor was my friendship 
less close with Albert Barnes, Dr. Thomas Brainerd, Dr. 
John Macdowell, Dr. S. I. Prime, Dr. Robert Baird, Dr. 
A. T. Magill (my kinsman by marriage), Dr. William 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 295 

B. Sprague, Dr. George Junkin, Dr. George Duffield, 
Jr., John Chambers, Dr. Erasmus D. Macmaster, Dr. 
Theodore L. Cuyler, and other Presbyterian pastors in 
and outside of Philadelphia, besides Dr. Richard Newton, 
Dr. Stephen H. Tyng, and his son, Dudley A. Tyng, Dr. 
Suddards, Robert J. Parvin, Dr. E. N. Kirk, Bishop 
Matthew Simpson, Anthony Atwood, Dr. Dur-bin, Dr. 
T. A. Fernley (the efficient agent of our Philadelphia 
Sabbath Association), the venerable Thomas H. Stock- 
ton ; and with Abraham Martin and R. G. Pardee of 
Brooklyn, laymen and co-workers in the Sabbath-school 
cause. The war brought a still wider circle of friends, 
some of whom I have named already. Dr. Philip Schaff, 
Prof. M. L. Stoever of Gettysburg, Hon. Schuyler Col- 
fax, Jay Cooke, and William Welsh I may refer to here. 
Of friends of later years I recall Joseph Cooke, Dr. H. 
Clay Trumbull, Bishop William Taylor, Prof. McCloskey 
of Princeton, T. DeWitt Talmadge; and H. Martyn 
Scudder, Dr. Henry H. Jessup, and Dr. W. A. P. Martin, 
the three last eminent laborers on the mission-field. 

Of foreign friends, besides those mentioned elsewhere, 
I can recall Father Gavazzi, the eloquent champion of 
Italy; his countryman Senor Sacchi de Casali, whom 
I first met while travelling in Europe, and induced to 
come to America, where he lived until 1885 as editor of 
the Ecod' Italia; William Arthur, the eloquent Metho- 
dist preacher, and another friend of United Italy. From 
Scotland I had the pleasure of welcoming Dr. Gould of 
our own Church, Drs. Andrew Bonar, Edmunds, and 
others. Dr. Thomas Guthrie, Scotland's most popular 
preacher, I had persuaded to come to America, and he 
got as far as Queenstown, when the effect of the ship's 



\ 



296 THE LIFE OF GEORGE II. STUART. 

motion on his heart was found to be such as to make his 
return advisable. It was a great disappointment to both 
of us. From Ireland came Profs. Porter and Killen of 
Belfast and Rev. W. Fleming Stevenson (on his way to 
visit the missions in India), and others, besides the Irish 
delegations elsewhere specified; from England Rev. F. 
H. White, one of Mr. Spurgeon's students, who has done 
excellent work as an evangelist ; Mr. Lundy of Liver- 
pool and Dr. William McCaw of Manchester ; my kins- 
man by marriage, James Robertson, of the publishing- 
house of James Nisbet & Co. ; and Rev. T. Dallas 
Marston of London. I made Mr. Marston's acquaint- 
ance on shipboard, and he asked me to recommend to 
him a good stopping-place in Philadelphia. I gave him 
the address of my own house, and not until he found 
himself under my roof did he discover that I had not 
sent him to a boarding-house. I also had the pleasure 
of entertaining the present Lord Kinnaird, and of thus 
making some acknowledgment for the very marked 
kindness his father showed me and my family during our 
visit to London in 1866. 

In the summer of 1880 I had the pleasure of meeting 
with General Garfield at Chautauqua, while he was on 
his way back to his home at Mentor, after his visit to 
New York City. As the presidential campaign was at 
its height, he was making speeches at every stopping- 
place on the way. He stayed at Chautauqua over Sun- 
day, and, as he was observed in the audience, it was 
announced that he would address the afternoon meeting, 
and that I would preside. I called on him in his room 
at the hotel to ascertain what his wishes really were. 
He objected very strongly to making any address, on the 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H STUART. 297 

ground that it would look as though he were embracing 
the opportunity to push his canvass on the Sabbath. I 
agreed with him on this point, but asked him to accom- 
pany me to the platform, which he did. When I made 
some brief and fitting reference to his presence there, 
and the reasons for his not speaking as announced, my 
friend Mr. H. Thane Miller, who was sitting behind me, 
rose and gave the signal for the " Chautauqua salute," 
by silently waving his handkerchief. It was said at the 
time that I gave the signal, but nothing was farther from 
my thoughts, as I wished to carry out what we had 
agreed upon before the meeting, and knew nothing of 
the existence of such a " signal/' 

The next morning before he started, General Garfield 
was serenaded by the Fisk Jubilee Singers, and made a 
brief address, in which he made an eloquent reference to 
these emancipated slaves and the work they were doing 
for their race. I would gladly recall what he said, as it 
greatly impressed me, and indeed every one who heard 
him. 

I was at Clifton Springs when the sad news came of 
his assassination. As a matter of course, our prayers 
were united with those of the nation at large for his re- 
covery. Dr. Foster joined with Mr. Brunot and some 
others of us in sending a telegram to Mrs. Garfield ex- 
pressive of our prayerful sympathy with her and our 
hopes of her husband's recovery. When I returned to 
Philadelphia I found a similar condition of feeling. Two 
of the Union prayer-meetings for his recovery were held 
in our own church, and one in Association Hall. 

The missionary brethren who have been mentioned as 
especially associated with me in friendship were all of the 



298 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART 

Presbyterian Church. But no genuine interest in mis- 
sions can be kept within the lines and bounds of secta- 
rian interest ; and indeed it is in view of the great work 
to be done in evangelizing the world that our sectarian 
divisions are seen in their true light, as obstacles to the 
advance of the Master's kingdom. I might have named 
many other missionary brethren of the Presbyterian 
Church or of our smaller body, with whose early train- 
ing for the work or their subsequent career I have been 
familiar; but I also must say that my interest in the 
cause of Christ in foreign lands never has been limited 
to the work and the workers of my own denomination. 
In 1 88 1 I had the pleasure of sending a portrait of Ado- 
niram Judson to the Foreign Missionary Committee of the 
Free Church of Scotland, who placed it between those 
of Dr. Duff and Dr. Wilson of Bombay, and had it pho- 
tographed for their " lantern lectures." One of the men 
who have interested me very powerfully is a Methodist 
worker in India. 

In the spring of 1884 I received a letter from my old 
Sabbath-school scholar, the Rev. John S. Woodside of 
our own mission in India, apprising me of the fact that 
he had given a letter of introduction to me to the Rev. 
Dennis Osborne, a Eurasian of Mussoorie in India, who 
had been converted and was preaching the Gospel with 
great power, and who was the presiding elder of the 
Conference to which he belonged. Mr. Osborne was 
coming to this country as a delegate to the General 
Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, which 
was to be held that year in Philadelphia. Mr. Woodside 
spoke of Mr. Osborne in such glowing terms, as one who 
could present the claims of India's millions as no one else 




Rev. DENNIS OSBORNE, 
Mussoorie, India. 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 299 

could do since the days of Alexander Duff, that I hesi- 
tated about publishing his letter. I kept a daily lookout 
for Mr. Osborne's arrival, and happened to come into 
Association Hall the morning after he arrived. The 
Conference had not yet opened for the day, when a 
strange man was pointed out to me who had just taken 
his seat and whose dark complexion suggested to me 
that he might be the man I was looking for. I found 
that my conjecture was correct. When he learnt my 
name, I had a warm greeting from him ; and, finding that 
he and his wife and son were comfortably lodged and 
taken care of, I said to him that to-morrow was the Sab- 
bath (June 1, 1884), and perhaps, as he had just arrived, 
he had no engagements to speak ; and that, as he would 
very likely want to hear some of the leading men of his 
Church in the morning, I should be glad to have him 
dine with me after the morning service and speak at the 
monthly missionary concert in our church in the after- 
noon, where his countryman Ram Chunder Bose was 
already engaged to speak. This invitation he accepted, 
and I hastened from the hall to add his name to the ad- 
vertisement in the afternoon papers, and sent at once a 
note to my pastor announcing the fact and giving him 
Mr. Osborne's address that he might call upon him. On 
going into the pastor's study on Sabbath morning, I 
found Mr. Osborne there on the invitation of the pastor, 
who had been seized with a severe cold and had asked 
Mr. Osborne to occupy the pulpit that morning. When 
he entered the pulpit, without any knowledge of who he 
was on the part of the congregation at large, great sur- 
prise was manifested at seeing this strange face. After 
the prayer of invocation he arose and read one of our 



300 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

old version of the Psalms and afterwards the Scriptures 
with a tone and with an unction that touched all hearts. 
He took for his text I Peter i. 8, " Whom having not 
seen, ye love." Before he had proceeded far in his dis- 
cussion of this theme I realized the truth of what my 
friend Woodside had said, in his letter advising me of 
Mr. Osborne's contemplated visit, with reference to the 
remarkable power of this Eurasian convert. His sermon 
produced an effect which was visible all over the church, 
many nodding assent to his eloquent utterances. In the 
afternoon, at the monthly concert of prayer for missions, 
his address awakened a new interest in all hearts in the 
cause which was so dear to the speaker himself. As this 
was his first Sabbath appearance in America, and in an 
old-fashioned Presbyterian church, it seemed to open the 
door for him into all Presbyterian churches, where he 
was afterwards welcomed by multitudes, who were car- 
ried away with his natural eloquence. 

I may say here that when Mr. Osborne was converted 
he held the important position of Secretary of the British 
Public Works in India, in which capacity he had served 
for eighteen years. Through the influence of Bishop 
Taylor, he was led to relinquish that position and enter 
upon the work of the ministry. When he sent in his 
resignation, his friends urged him to withdraw it for two 
years, as, at the end of twenty years service, he would 
be entitled to a large pension for life ; but the claims of 
the perishing around him constrained him to refuse to 
listen to this suggestion ; and the position, which had 
been held open for him a year, was filled by another. 

Shortly after his arrival in Philadelphia, Mr. Osborne 
received a telegram stating that his little daughter Lillie, 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 30 1 

a girl of twelve, had died of small-pox while he was 
passing through the Suez Canal on his way to this 
country. This sad announcement almost broke the 
heart of the mother and father. I learned from him 
that, had it not been for this little girl's entreaty, after 
receiving his appointment as a delegate to the General 
Conference, he would not have come on account of 
being obliged to leave his wife and children at home. 
This little girl entreated him to go, and to take her 
mother and her little brother Ernest along, as Ernest 
could sing, and she would take care of the younger chil- 
dren while they were gone. About the same time I 
learned that Mussoorie, where Mr. Osborne w r as sta- 
tioned, was the Saratoga of India, where missionaries, 
their wives, and other Europeans found a summer re- 
treat from the burning heat of India; and that his only 
place to preach was a small hall which he hired for the 
purpose. I conceived the idea of having a church erected 
there, as a memorial to the little daughter who had died 
in his absence. I opened a subscription for that pur- 
pose, and, before he sailed for home, I had secured most 
of the necessary funds to build a handsome church on 
the highest ground occupied by any church in India. 
The larger portion of the fund I received from Presby- 
terians, and from other evangelical Christians who were 
not Methodists. One of the handsomest clocks ever 
sent to India was presented by Mr. George W. Childs, 
and a bell in keeping with it was presented by Mr. John 
Wanamaker. At the dedication of this church Mr. 
Woodside and other Presbyterian ministers took part in 
the services, some of them having travelled a long dis- 
tance to be present on the occasion. 

26 



302 THE LIFE OF GEORGE II STUART. 

Mr. Osborne, during his visit to Chicago, explained 
to Mr. Blackstone, a young man who was once in my 
employ, and who was the son-in-law of a rich widow, 
that he was anxious to found a Christian school for 
native boys, which would cost nearly ten thousand dol- 
lars. The whole of this sum was contributed, at the 
suggestion of her son-in-law, by this noble Christian 
woman, and the school has been largely endowed since 
then by her and by other friends of the work. 

Dr. McCosh, having met Mr. Osborne at my house, 
and learning of his wonderful powers as a speaker, in- 
sisted upon my taking him to Princeton before he re- 
turned home. This invitation we accepted, and Dr. Mc- 
Cosh prevailed upon us to be his guests at the handsome 
presidential mansion, where we remained till Monday, en- 
joying our visit beyond expression. Mr. Osborne in this 
short time preached and spoke no less than five times to 
crowded houses, leaving an impression not soon to be 
forgotten. His sermon on Sabbath morning in the First 
Presbyterian church, where his son Ernest sang with 
wonderful effect, was from the text " Beauty for ashes," 
and will be remembered as long as life shall last by those 
who heard it. At the close of this service, which was 
attended by all the professors of the College and Semi- 
nary and a large number of students, Dr. Paxton, who 
sat just behind me, on taking my hand, asked, without 
any word of salutation, " Mr. Stuart, where did that man 
learn to preach ?" I answered him by pointing my 
finger towards heaven. 

Dr. Hall of New York, hearing of our visit to Prince- 
ton and being soon about to start for Europe, wrote me 
to engage Mr. Osborne for a Sabbath in his church be- 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 303 

fore his return to India. I was able to arrange for his 
preaching there both morning and evening on his last 
Sabbath in this country. That Sabbath, however, was 
just after the church had been closed for the summer, 
and, as a large number of the congregation were from 
home, the officers feared that we should have but a small 
congregation to hear a stranger. I felt somewhat as they 
did ; but I was able to have published in the daily papers 
on Saturday local and editorial notices of the man. On 
reaching New York on Saturday evening, I still feared 
that, owing to the absence of so many from the city, we 
should not have a congregation such as I desired to hear 
this eminent minister on his last Sabbath in America, and 
therefore sent pulpit-notices to some twenty churches 
which had no afternoon service. We had a good con- 
gregation in the morning, and a crowded one in the 
afternoon, with a large number of the ministers to whom 
I had sent despatches present. On Sabbath morning the 
officers of the church, knowing that I was raising money 
to build a house of worship for Mr. Osborne, told me 
that they had a very rigid and proper rule with reference 
to taking up collections, which would, no doubt, have 
been suspended had their pastor been at home. They 
desired, however, that, at the close of the services, I 
should be invited to come to the platform and state the 
case and make an appeal, to which the members of the 
church and others might respond when the congregation 
was dismissed, or afterwards, by handing their voluntary 
contributions to the officers of the church. We received 
on that day the largest amount that was given for this 
purpose by any church, including, as it did by subsequent 
gift, six hundred dollars from one lady belonging to the 



304 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

church. Besides this, the result of Mr. Osborne's ad- 
dress before the Sabbath-school of the church was an 
annual gift for his work from one of the Bible-classes, 
which has been continued to the present time. During 
his first and second visits to this country (for he visited 
us again in 1888) Mr. Osborne preached four times in all 
to Dr. Hall's congregation, a congregation which is the 
largest contributor to foreign missions in the country, 
and which ever since his first appearance in its pulpit has 
been interested in Mr. Osborne's work. 

Time would fail me to speak of the many other inter- 
esting occasions on which Mr. Osborne was called to 
speak in 1884. I cannot forbear, however, mentioning 
one more of unusual interest. It was his visit to the 
great reunion of Presbyterians held in the Cumberland 
Valley, between Carlisle and Chambersburg, on the 
Fourth of July, which has become historic and at which 
I had been invited to speak more than once, but had 
always declined until the summer of 1884, when I con- 
sented, on condition that they would allow me to furnish 
a substitute to speak for me. My request was granted, 
and on arriving there we found a large assembly under 
a tent in the woods, with ample provision for body and 
soul. The principal speaker of the occasion was Dr. A. 
A. Hodge of Princeton. When the chairman introduced 
him he remarked that God seldom endows one man with 
two gifts. Dr. Hodge was endowed with a great intel- 
lect ; but, as his voice was not in keeping with it, the 
chairman entreated the vast audience to be very still, 
that they might hear what this eminent servant of God 
would say to them. His address was all that could be 
expected, and was listened to with breathless attention. 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 305 

It was my privilege to introduce my friend from India, 
who is not only gifted with a great intellect but with a 
voice of marvellous power and unction ; and, in doing 
so, I had to beg to be excused for differing from the dis- 
tinguished chairman of the occasion, as I introduced one 
whom God had endowed with two gifts. The effect upon 
the vast audience, as they came to realize the justice of 
my remarks, can better be imagined than described. Mr. 
Osborne's closing appeal on behalf of India was enforced 
by one of the most thrilling illustrations that I have ever 
heard from the lips of the most distinguished speakers. 
It was a reference to the Sepoy Rebellion when the seat 
of that rebellion was at Delhi, the great Cashmere Gate 
of which seemed impregnable. The Commander-in- 
Chief of the army in front of Delhi called up General 
Nicholson (who was born at Lisburn in Ireland, in the 
same county as myself), and said to him, " The post of 
honor and of danger is assigned to you to-day." Nich- 
olson called for volunteers to lay the train, stating that 
those who went first were likely to fall ; but, notwith- 
standing the danger, volunteers soon stood before him, 
and one after another, as they went forward, was shot 
dead, but the train was laid. He then called for volun- 
teers to fire the train ; and then volunteers responded 
promptly, with the same result. Finally the gate was 
reached, and, amidst the booming of cannon and the 
loud huzzas of the army, entered ; although the brave 
Nicholson himself fell at the entrance. Using this illus- 
tration Mr. Osborne described India as the Cashmere 
Gate of heathenism, and called for volunteers who were 
willing to dare, and even to die, so that Christ might be 
preached to the perishing millions of that land. No 

u 26* 



306 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

human pen can describe the effect of this remarkable 
illustration as an appeal to the Christian church for vol- 
unteers to go out in the service of the Master to earth's 
perishing millions. 

Before sailing for India this Methodist missionary pub- 
lished a farewell address " To the Presbyterian Churches 
of America," thanking them for the notable kindness he 
had received from them, and speaking of my own ser- 
vices in terms much too strong for quotation. 

Mr. Osborne, with his wife and son, revisited America 
in 1888 as a delegate to the General Conference in New 
York ; but, being sick and away from home nearly all 
the time he was in Philadelphia, I had only the privilege 
of seeing him for a few days and of hearing him preach 
but once. During this last visit, which lasted one hun- 
dred and ninety- eight days, he made one hundred and 
nineteen distinct journeys, travelling in all thirteen thou- 
sand miles and delivering one hundred and ninety-six 
addresses, — not a bad record for a native of a country 
whose climate is supposed to be depressing to human 
energy. Everywhere he was received with even greater 
favor than on his first visit. Some of his addresses have 
been collected into a little volume called " India and its 
Millions" (Philadelphia, 1884), which he did me the 
honor to dedicate to me. It has been pronounced by 
Princeton professors, Dr. Hall, Dr. Cuyler, and other 
competent judges the most interesting book about that 
country they ever saw. It will give those who never 
heard him some idea of this remarkable man. He 
arrived at Bombay on his return from this second visit 
on the 17th of December, 1888. Recently, however, he 
has been laid aside from active work by illness. 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 307 

Of other Christian workers from abroad whom it has 
been my privilege to welcome to my home, I may men- 
tion Major Malan and Dr. Newman Hall. 

Dr. Hall first came to this country in 1867, and on a 
mission somewhat similar to that which Bishop Mcll- 
vaine undertook to England in 1861-62. At a time 
when there was much bitterness of feeling on our side 
with reference to the sympathy of the English govern- 
ing classes with the cause of the defunct Confederacy, 
he came to emphasize the fact that a very great body of 
Englishmen, if not a majority of that people, had been 
on the side of Union and Liberty throughout the war. 
With a view to symbolize the fraternal feeling of the best 
people of the two countries, he had undertaken to add to 
his great church in London, once Whitefield's Tabernacle, 
a tower to be dedicated to the memory of Lincoln, and 
he asked Americans to unite with his friends at home in 
defraying the expense of the erection. His second visit 
was in 1884. 

I recall with especial interest the visit of the late Major 
Malan, the last years of whose useful life were devoted to 
awakening an interest in the evangelization of Africa, and 
who came to our country for that purpose. Major Malan 
was a nephew of the famous Cesar Malan of Geneva. 
While an unconverted officer of the British army in In- 
dia, he was riding upon an elephant's back through the 
jungle when some thoughts connected with his early 
youth came up to his mind, and, through the influence 
of the Holy Spirit, he was led to give his heart to Christ 
then and there. His interest in the cause of Christ was 
so great that he could not resist the desire to make 
known the riches of salvation to the men under his com- 



308 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

mand, some of whom afterwards complained to a higher 
officer, when Major Malan was enjoined to desist from 
preaching, as that was the work of the chaplain. This 
rebuke led him to resign his position in the army ; and 
soon afterwards he visited Natal and became so inter- 
ested in the need of the Gospel for the millions of Africa 
that he spent the remainder of his days in pleading their 
cause, and finally published a monthly periodical in Lon- 
don entitled Africa. 

During one of Major Malan's many appeals for Africa 
in Philadelphia, a young Christian friend of mine, con- 
nected with the Baptist Church, became interested in the 
cause. He called at my house and spent some time with 
the major, which finally resulted in his becoming a min- 
ister of his Church and settling in the South. Up to this 
time he had been a successful conveyancer. For many 
years I lost sight of him, and had almost forgotten the 
interview that he had with Major Malan at my house 
when I learned from my friend the Rev. George C. Need- 
ham that the Rev. F. F. Baldwin (for such was his name) 
was in town and was to sail that morning (October 8, 
1884) as a missionary for Africa. I learned that he was 
going out without being connected with any board, as, 
owing to his age and his large family, the boards of his 
Church, both north and south, had declined to send him ; 
I also found that he had asked God to give him a thou- 
sand dollars to pay for his outfit and passage-money, 
when he proposed to go forth in faith that the Lord in 
some way would sustain him. Owing to an important 
engagement that morning, I found myself deprived of 
the privilege of going to the steamer to see him ofif ; but, 
finding in my desk a few sovereigns, I told Mr. Needham 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 309 

to give them to him, as British money might be useful to 
him on landing in a foreign port. In acknowledging this 
little gift afterwards, Mr. Baldwin said that the money 
which I had sent him, together with a few other contri- 
butions handed him on the deck of the steamer, made 
up the thousand dollars which he had asked and a few 
^cents over. All of this came in answer to the prayers 
of a consecrated servant of Christ. 

Mr. Baldwin had selected Morocco as his future field 
of labor, and, if I remember right, there was not a single 
missionary in that field when he arrived. On reaching 
Tangier he found a free house, called the House of Hope, 
awaiting his arrival, having been erected through the 
influence of Henry Grattan Guinness (who is now in 
this country pleading the cause of Africa) for previous 
missionaries to Morocco. After spending some time in 
Tangier, Mr. Baldwin removed to Magador, where, as in 
other places, the Lord has greatly blessed his labors 
among the Berber tribes, his method being to travel 
among them on foot and tell them in a simple way the 
story of Christ. I hear frequently from Mr. Baldwin, 
and regard with continued interest the labors of this de- 
voted missionary, whose faith and whose return to the 
primitive methods of evangelization — as suggested by 
Edward Irving in his great sermon before the London 
Missionary Society in 1824 — have awakened the pro- 
foundest interest. The same year I became one of the 
six treasurers of Bishop William Taylor's Congo Mission, 
which has been conducted on the same apostolic model. 

It was in 1884 that my dear friend Bishop Matthew 
Simpson, of the Methodist Church, was taken to his re- 
ward. No man in any Church could have been more 



310 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

missed than he. He was a* man of the broadest sympa- 
thies and the widest influence for good. What he was to 
the Christian Commission, not only as a faithful member 
of our Executive Committee but as our spokesman on 
many occasions of critical importance, I have no words to 
express. I think his speech at our last annual meeting in 
Washington must rank among the greatest of his life, if 
not itself the very greatest. I was much touched when 
Hon. Simon Cameron, in introducing the bishop to one 
of the great meetings preparatory to our Centennial Ex- 
hibition, spoke of Bishop Simpson and myself as coming 
to him immediately after the Battle of Bull Run (he was 
then Secretary of War), and our seeming to him as mes- 
sengers from God to confirm his faith in the success of 
the war for the preservation of the country. 

Next to India and Africa, China always has had the 
deepest interest for me as a mission-field. My poor 
health has compelled me of late years to spend much of 
my time at the great Sanitarium at Clifton Springs, New 
York, where I meet Christian workers from all parts of 
our own country, and many from abroad. One of the 
latter whom I have met there is Mr. Hudson Taylor, 
founder of the Inland Mission, which has done so much 
for China and is promising of still greater results in the 
future. 

In a quite unexpected way, I was the means of obtain- 
ing one recruit for the little band which is storming this 
stronghold of paganism, under Mr. Hudson Taylor's 
leadership. John C. Stewart was a young Scotchman, 
who after his conversion became filled with the desire 
to go out to China as a medical missionary. Strangely 
enough, he became in some way possessed of the notion 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 311 

that he must come to America to obtain the necessary- 
education, although there are ample facilities for training 
medical missionaries in Edinburgh. His father, who is 
Ln very humble circumstances, raised money enough to 
send him to America as a steerage passenger. He came 
to Philadelphia, and paid all that was left of his money 
as the entrance-fee to one of our colleges, not knowing 
that he might have been admitted without any fee, as has 
been done for such students in other cases. He was re- 
duced to such straits that he was obliged to accept a place 
as a night-watchman, doing his sleeping as well as his 
studying by day. He had a friend in Baltimore, and, as 
a last resort, he wrote to him to make inquiries for some 
one in Philadelphia who would help him out of his diffi- 
culties, as he was a complete stranger in our city. This 
friend went to his pastor, Dr. Gill,* who gave him my 
name. He called on me and told me his story. I ob- 
tained for him admission to Jefferson College as a free 
student, and got him employment in the work of visiting 
the children of our St. Mary Street mission-school. 
When he had completed his course of study, I raised a 
subscription to pay his expenses on his way to his new 

* Rev. W. H. Gill, M.D., was an Irish Presbyterian minister, who came 
to this country because of family troubles, — an insane wife having given 
him no rest for years, and having filled him with such a dread of being 
followed by her that he never settled long in any one place. She in fact 
was properly provided for in an asylum, but the good man lived in terror 
of her escaping and discovering his place of residence. At this time he 
was preaching in the old Westminster church of Baltimore, in whose 
grounds Edgar Allan Poe lies buried, and that with a power and fervency 
which made a great impression on visitors who were drawn to the church 
to see the poet's last resting-place. He died a few years ago in some 
town of New Jersey. He was a good man, sorely afflicted. — Ed. 



312 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

field of labor. In London he met Mr. Hudson Taylor, 
and was accepted by him as a laborer of the Inland Mis- 
sion. He is now stationed at the city of Ta Yuen Fu in 
the extreme north of China, where he is engaged in hos- 
pital practice, and in the study of the native religions. I 
frequently hear from him of his welfare. 

The country has reason to remember 1885 as that in 
which her greatest general and eminent statesman was 
taken from her. The last public meeting that General 
Grant ever attended was at the reunion of the Christian 
Commission and other army workers which was held at 
Ocean Grove, New Jersey, in the summer of 1884. He 
was present at this meeting by my special invitation, 
although then a great invalid and pretty closely confined 
to his cottage at Long Branch. The fact of his coming 
having become known, the number of people at that 
place was largely increased by visitors from Asbury Park 
and elsewhere. After dinner I succeeded, with the help 
of some friends, in getting the general into the reception- 
room in the rear of the great platform, which was already 
crowded to excess, as well as the inside and outside of 
the great tent, where there were not less than twelve 
thousand persons present. When I entered upon the 
platform with General Grant leaning on my arm, the vast 
congregation arose to their feet and gave him such a 
warm reception as I have seldom, if ever, witnessed. 
Immediately in front of the platform sat some two hun- 
dred and fifty soldiers of the Grand Army of the Re- 
public. After the opening exercises of prayer and sing- 
ing, I made a brief address to President Grant, and then 
called upon the Rev. Mr. Palmer, a Methodist preacher 
of New York who had been a private soldier in the army, 




ULYSSES S. GRANT. 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 313 

to extend, on behalf of the soldiers present and others, 
a warm greeting to our distinguished guest ; and this he 
did in a most effective manner, commencing his address 
by stating, " I was one of a million of your soldiers ; and, 
while you could not get along without us, we could not 
have got along without you." After this stirring address 
I helped General Grant to his feet ; but, after uttering a 
few words of thanks, his feelings so overcame him that 
tears started from his eyes, and, having spoken only a 
few sentences, he was compelled to resume his seat. 

When the general was about to depart, the carriage 
was so surrounded that it was difficult to get him safely 
into it, or to allow the horses to drive off. This memo- 
rable occasion was one which has often been recalled by 
those who were present, and will continue to be talked 
about until the last person who was present is dead.* 

Seven months later there occurred in our own city a 
death which affected me not less keenly. It is forty-five 
years since I had the privilege of bringing John B. Gough 

* Mr. George W. Childs, in his " Recollections of General Grant," con- 
tributed to the biography by Colonel Burr, gives this account of the inci- 
dent : " The last speech he ever made, the last time he ever addressed the 
public, was last summer, a year ago this month, at Ocean Grove. Governor 
Oglesby of Illinois was staying with him at his cottage, and George H. 
Stuart, who was one of his earliest and dearest friends, came up to ask 
him if he would not come down to Ocean Grove, being the first time he had 
appeared in public since his misfortunes. He was then lame, and was 
compelled to use his crutches. He found ten thousand people assembled. 
They rose en masse and cheered with a vigor and a unanimity very un- 
common in a religious assemblage. This touched him profoundly, for it 
was evidence that the popular heart was still with him. He arose to 
make acknowledgment, and after saying a few words he utterly broke 
down, and the tears trickled down his cheeks. That was the last time he 
ever appeared in public." 

o 27 



314 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H STUART. 

to Philadelphia for the first time, and of securing from 
him a remarkable address in the church where I wor- 
shipped. It was my privilege, after this, frequently to be 
instrumental in bringing this distinguished temperance 
lecturer to our city, and I presided at his great meetings 
held in the largest hall that could be secured, especially 
after his return in 1 860 from his second protracted visit 
to England. On one of these occasions my son William 
David, the founder and superintendent of the St. Mary's 
Street Mission-School for colored children, received more 
than a thousand dollars from a single lecture for the ben- 
efit of his mission. For many years Mr. Gough was the 
guest of my old friend Mr. Leonard Jewell, at the house 
of his daughter Mrs. Reed. His last address in Phila- 
delphia, where the announcement that he was going to 
speak always crowded our largest halls, was delivered in 
the Presbyterian church at Frankford, of which my friend 
Dr. Murphy is the pastor, on the 18th of February, 1886. 
In the midst of that remarkable address, after Mr. Gough 
had repeated the words " Young men, keep your record 
clean," he was stricken with paralysis, and was carried 
to the house of Dr. Burns, which was next door to the 
church. Here, after a few days, his spirit gently passed 
away to its final rest, 

" Safe in the arms of Jesus." 

Before removing his body to its place of interment in 
Boylston, near Worcester, Massachusetts, a funeral ser- 
vice was held at Frankford in the house of the doctor 
where he died, and was attended by his wife and a few 
personal friends. This solemn service was conducted by 
Dr. Murphy, who called upon my friend Mr. Wanamaker 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 3x5 

and myself to speak. This I found to be one of the most 
trying moments of my life, gazing as I did for the last 
time upon the face of one under whose eloquence I had 
so often been enchanted. On the following Sabbath 
evening I made arrangements to hold a memorial ser- 
vice in our church, where Mr. Wanamaker presided and, 
with myself and others, spoke as best we could under 
the sorrow which rested upon all our hearts. 

Among the other temperance lecturers in whom I 
took an especial interest was William Noble of London, 
who has been justly styled the John B. Gough of Eng- 
land ; and who, in speech and manner, resembled Gough 
more than any other man I ever heard. He could re- 
peat verbatim large passages from Gough's addresses, 
and imitated his manner so closely that, when your eyes 
were shut, you would suppose you were listening to 
Gough. Like Gough, Mr. Noble had been rescued from 
a life of intemperance. I felt it a great privilege to aid 
in directing his labors in Philadelphia while he was 
going to and returning from Australia. He is still 
laboring with great success in England, and I have fre- 
quently the privilege of hearing from him. 

Before closing this record I must chronicle my thank- 
fulness for the labors of yet another evangelist, who was 
once one of my Sabbath-school boys and whose father, 
the Rev. Dr. Robert Patterson, who died recently in San 
Francisco, was one of the dearest friends I ever had. His 
son Alexander, while in business in Chicago, was led to 
go out with deputations of the Young Men's Christian 
Association to address meetings in the country. At one 
of these meetings, in a town where there was much infi- 
delity, his success was so great that, in order to counter- 



316 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

act the influence of his meetings, a few of the young men 
of that town sent to Chicago for some one to neutralize 
the results which he was exerting. While the advocate of 
infidelity who was sent was holding meetings, he received 
a letter from a lady in the town who was on her death-bed 
and who was supposed to have given up her infidelity, and 
to have given her heart to Christ, in connection with Mr. 
Patterson's meetings, but whose faith had been somewhat 
shaken by her old infidel friends, and who accordingly 
sent this letter to the representative of Ingersollism to 
tell him that she had given her heart to Jesus, but, being 
somewhat in doubt as she drew near the end of life, 
wanted to inquire of him what she had better do. He 
at once advised her that, if she had found Jesus and was 
about to die, she had better hold on to him. Making a 
statement of these facts at the next meeting, the infidel 
announced that his meetings were now closed, which 
produced a wonderful impression. 

The success which attended the meetings held by Mr. 
Patterson was so great that he gave up his lucrative busi- 
ness and was determined by the grace of God to conse- 
crate himself to the work of an evangelist. When these 
facts were known, some of his ministerial friends advised 
him to spend a year in preparing for the ministry under 
the direction of the Rev. Dr. Herrick Johnson, and he 
was soon afterwards ordained as an evangelist. After 
his father's death his congregation at Oakland, Cali- 
fornia, invited Alexander Patterson to succeed his father 
as their pastor. This he declined to do, as also several 
other invitations to settle as a pastor of a church, feeling 
that he could do more in advancing the kingdom of 
Christ by acting as an evangelist His services are con- 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H STUART. 317 

stantly called for, and, at Mr. Moody's request, he has 
spent several months, from time to time, in Chicago. 
His first and only visit to Philadelphia, in 1886, was at- 
tended with blessed results in various churches of our 
city. He has an active assistant in his beloved wife, who 
sings the Gospel as he preaches it. His knowledge of 
the Scriptures is very great and his manner very simple 
but earnest, and wherever he goes the Lord seems to 
accompany his preaching with the power of the Holy 
Spirit. His " Bible Manual for Christian Workers" is 
acknowledged, by those best competent to judge, to be 
the best book of the kind now before the public, and 
should be in the hands of every one who is trying to win 
souls for Christ. 

During that visit to Philadelphia to which I have re- 
ferred, I took Mr. Patterson out to Chestnut Hill, where 
I was living with my daughter for the summer ; and the 
fact that he was to preach there on the Sabbath led me 
to say on the previous day to a conductor on the train, 
when he came for my ticket, " Have you got your 
ticket ?" He did not understand what I meant until I 
pointed my finger upward. Coming to me after he had 
passed through the train, he sat by my side, while I 
talked to him about the importance of giving his heart 
to Christ. I finally told him to come the next day and 
hear one of my Sabbath-school boys. To my great de- 
light, at the close of the services, I found the conductor 
waiting at the door to thank me for directing him to the 
meeting, and, when I asked him if he had found Jesus, 
he replied, " Almost persuaded." I told him to go to the 
afternoon meeting in another church, and when the in- 
vitation was given, at the close of the services, for sinners 

27* 



318 THE LIFE OF GEORGE II STUART. 

who wanted to give their hearts to Jesus to rise, this 
" almost persuaded" conductor was the first to respond. 
Some time after this, he wrote me a letter thanking me 
for asking him the question about his ticket, and asking 
me to come, on the following Sabbath, to the Baptist 
church, where he was to be baptized and received into 
the communion of the saints. Owing to my absence 
from the city I was deprived of the privilege of seeing 
him received into the church. I have since learned from 
time to time that he has proved himself faithful to his 
covenant engagements. 

Mr. Stuart leaves it to the editor to say something of Mr. Pat- 
terson's father, the late Dr. Robert Patterson of Cincinnati. He 
was a native of the north of Ireland, and on coming to this coun- 
try he entered upon the business of a grocer. He was already a 
married man with a family when he received his call to the min- 
istry, which came to him on this wise. Dr. Samuel B. Wylie was 
accustomed to make the round of the teachers in the Sabbath- 
school, spending a morning with each teacher to see how he did 
his work, and to follow this up with suggestions which might in- 
crease their usefulness as teachers. When he came to Robert 
Patterson's class he was impressed with the force and freshness 
of his teaching, and the evidence of exceptional mental power. 
He brought him a theological book, and asked him to read it 
through and write an analysis of it. This also confirmed his im- 
pression that the man had mistaken his vocation, and he per- 
suaded him to undertake a course of theological study under his 
own direction, and at its completion to apply to the Reformed 
Presbytery for license to preach. 

Mr. Patterson as a preacher at once impressed his audiences as 
a man of fresh and original style, vivid imagination, and intense 
earnestness. It will be remembered that he accompanied Dr. 
Duff over the West, and was one of the secretaries of the Mis- 
sionary Conference held in New York before the great missionary 
sailed for home. He caught fire from Duff's fervor, and pleaded 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 319 

the cause of missions with something of his power. His first 
charge was in Cincinnati, from which he removed to Chicago. 
Here he remained until after the war, obtaining leave of absence 
for his memorable trip to the Pacific coast along with Mr. Min- 
gins to collect funds for the Christian Commission. It was before 
the war that he delivered the memorable series of lectures on 
" The Fables of Infidelity and the Facts of Faith," in which he 
took hold of the street-corner infidelity, which flourished on Sab- 
bath afternoons in Chicago in those early days. In later years he 
wrote much in this strain, and always with power and wit. 

In 1867, a year before Mr. Stuart's suspension, he withdrew from 
the Reformed Presbyterian Church, and joined the Old School 
Presbyterian Church. He afterwards accepted a call to San Fran- 
cisco, where the people had come to know him during his trip to 
the Pacific coast. From this he returned to his first place of labor, 
Cincinnati, but afterwards he returned to California, where he died 
in 1885. He was a man of rare qualities, — notable pulpit power, 
great tenderness of affection, and keenness of wit.— Ed. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Religious Canvass of Philadelphia — Convention at Harrisburg — Death of 
John Patterson — His Management of the Swearing Quartermaster — 
Closing Years of Life — Residence at Clifton Springs Sanitarium — Re- 
lief of Mr. William A. Washington — Preaching in the Universalist 
Church at Clifton — Closing Words by Prof. Gilmore. 

In the winter of 1886-87 I was privileged to take part 
in a plan for a thorough canvass of our city to ascertain 
its religious condition, and to induce those who neglected 
the means of grace to at least attend some place of wor- 
ship. The plan had already been tried in Pittsburg, with 
good results. The city was divided into districts, and 
one of these was assigned to each of the churches which 
participated. The church furnished a sufficient number 
of visitors to make a house-to-house visitation of every 
family in the district, to ascertain the religious relations 
of each, and to urge those who had none or were neg- 
lectful of those they had to attend some church of their 
own preference. As each visitor w T as entitled to speak 
in the name of the whole body of churches engaged in 
the visitation, and to assure the families of a welcome in 
whichever church they preferred, the plan had an en- 
tirely unsectarian character. It worked with very little 
friction or unpleasantness, the visitors generally being 
persons of good sense and meeting with very few rebuffs. 
In connection with this there were especial evangelistic 
services in several of the churches, and in the great 
armory on Broad Street, which easily accommodated 
320 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H STUART 32 1 

twenty-five hundred people. At one of these meetings 
the colonel of the regiment presided. 

To extend the movement thus begun at the two ex- 
tremities of the Commonwealth into the centre, a Con- 
vention of Christian workers was held in Harrisburg at 
the end of January, over which I was called to preside. 

At the end of the year I lost a dear and stanch friend 
by the death of John Patterson, who was the first man 
in the field in 1861 to do the work for which our Chris- 
tian Commission was afterwards created. He was a fine 
specimen of* the Scotch-Irishman, and the solidity of his 
qualities commanded respect everywhere. The personal 
confidence he inspired in President Lincoln, Generals 
Grant and Meade, and other high officers of the govern- 
ment, when brought into contact with them as general 
field-superintendent of the Commission's work, contrib- 
uted in no small degree to the success of our labors. 
He was a man of very earnest and assured convictions, 
and absolutely fearless in their statement and defence. 
On some points this amounted to invincible prejudice. 
But he had a heart of rare tenderness and the tact of a 
woman. He loved our soldier boys, and there was no 
service he was not ready to render them. 

A good illustration of his ways with them is found in 
a story of his doings on one of our transports during the 
war. He was on his way to City Point with a number 
of horses for the Commission, and he had fallen in with 
a quartermaster, who was taking a large number of gov- 
ernment horses to the front by the same steamboat. " I 
praised his horses, which he had bought in New York, 
and he praised mine, as was right enough, for they were 
a fine lot. When I went to water my horses, I watered 



322 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

his ; and when he went to feed his, he gave mine some- 
thing to eat. We were getting on finely, when he took 
offence at some foolish complaint from one of our dele- 
gates about the accommodations the boat furnished. 
Then my quartermaster swore at him. What was I to 
do ? I knew that a downright rebuke would do no good. 
So I wheeled round, rested my elbows on a big hogshead 
that stood on deck, and repeated the answer of the 
Shorter Catechism : ' The reason annexed to the Second 
Commandment is, that, however the breakers of this 
commandment may escape punishment from men, yet 
the Lord God will not suffer them to escape His righteous 
judgment/ ' What is that you are saying?' he said; * I 
know that as well as you do. I was taught that when I 
was a boy.' i And where did you learn the Catechism ?' 
1 Oh, I was brought up in old Dr. McLeod's church in 
New York, where all the children were taught that/ 
i Ah/ said I, ' and you were brought up in Dr. McLeod's 
church, and your father and mother held you up before 
the good old man while he baptized you into the name 
of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and here 
you are taking that name in vain over such a trifle as 
this !' I pressed it home on him, and the tears came 
into his eyes. We were all the better friends for it, and 
he swore no more after that." 

During the closing days of my life, while largely laid 
aside by ill health and deprived of the fortune which I 
once possessed, my interest in the cause of Christ and the 
extension of his kingdom throughout the world grows 
stronger with my declining years. Many of these latter 
years I have been permitted to spend at the Christian 
Sanitarium founded in 1850 at Clifton Springs by that 



H 
I 
m 



> 



H 
O 



o 




THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 323 

noble Christian man Dr. Henry Foster, which has grown 
to be one of the most remarkable institutions in the 
world for the healing of both body and soul. Here I 
have been spending many happy weeks and months of 
my declining years, receiving benefit for my body which 
I failed to receive from the most eminent doctors in this 
and other lands. All the physicians of the house and 
most of those in charge of other important positions I 
have found to be noble Christian men and women, and 
among the latter, Mrs. Dr. Foster, who conducts a 
weekly Bible-class for the lady-guests. When not under 
the especial care of Dr. Foster, I have been blessed with 
the attention of Drs. Gault and North, who, with the 
chaplam of the sanitarium Mr. Bodwell, and its general 
manager Mr. Linton, have always had a warm place in 
my heart. I think it may be well to republish, in an 
appendix, my letter written at the request of Mr. George 
W. Childs, and printed in The Public Ledger in Novem- 
ber, 1888. 

During these later years, while seeking to do what I 
could to advance the temporal and spiritual interests of 
God's needy children, one especial case should not be 
passed over. I refer to that of William A. Washington 
of Owensboro, Kentucky, the grandson of Warner Wash- 
ington, who was a half-brother of the illustrious George 
Washington. My attention was called to his case by 
Mr. Blakemore, when Mr. Washington was in his 
eighty-third year, living in extreme poverty with a niece 
who was not able to keep a servant. Mr. Blakemore 
handed me a letter from Mr. Washington to read, in 
which he acknowledged having received from Mr. Blake- 
more, as an executor of an estate in Virginia, the balance 



324 THE LIFE OF GEORGE II. STUART. 

of a small legacy which had been left to him. I had 
never heard of the case before, and on reading the letter 
I was unable to restrain my feelings, — to think that a 
relative of Washington, at the close of a long and hon- 
orable Christian life, should be living in such poverty, 
without any effort being made to relieve him. He was 
in debt at the time he received the bequest; and was 
very thankful to be able to pay what he owed, although 
it took nearly all the small amount received to do so. 
I at once suggested to my friend the propriety of raising 
him a purse of one thousand dollars, to be presented to 
him on the approaching Thanksgiving-day. Fearing 
that I was going to- make some public request for the 
money, Mr. Blakemore remarked that, as Mr. Washing- 
ton was an humble member of a Protestant Episcopal 
church, he thought such an appeal would be objection- 
able to him. To which I replied, " Suppose we raise the 
amount privately ;" and, that being acceptable, I dictated 
a note, making it strictly confidential, asking certain par- 
ties to aid in making up this purse, asking some for 
twenty-five dollars and some for fifty. These circular 
notes I had written by clerks, so as to keep the matter 
private. I addressed the first to President Arthur, ask- 
ing him for twenty-five dollars ; and the next to Ex- 
President Grant and Ex-President Hayes, asking for 
similar amounts. From the two first I received a 
prompt compliance with my request ; but not until the 
whole amount was raised did I hear from Ex-President 
Hayes, who apologized for his delay on the ground of 
absence, and enclosed me his check in blank to my order to 
be filled for such an amount as I thought proper. We had 
a surplus over the thousand dollars, which we invested 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 325 

in articles that we thought suitable for the lady and her 
daughters who had given Mr. Washington a home for 
life. On the morning of Thanksgiving day — through 
Mr. Watkins, the cashier of one of the banks of Owens- 
boro — the thousand dollars was received most unex- 
pectedly by this noble, suffering man. He afterwards 
wrote me a letter, expressing his thanks in language sur- 
passing anything that I had ever read, and this letter led 
to a correspondence which was kept up until his death, 
I having received, in the summer of 1887, the last letter 
which he ever wrote, from his dying-chamber in his 
eighty-seventh year. For composition and penmanship 
it would be almost impossible for any one to surpass or 
equal it. This letter I give here, to show the spirit and 
character of this dying saint. 

OWENSBORO, July 9, 1887. 

My dear Friend and beloved Brother in our blessed 
Redeemer, — 

I have just been again re-perusing your last most welcome letter. 
It gives me more pleasure than I can express to know that I am 
remembered in your prayers. The Apostle James assures us that 
"the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much :" 
such, my dear brother, I am confident is yours ; and I doubt not 
that, as such, it will be graciously heard and answered with bless- 
ings on your unworthy friend. 

I greatly desire the prayers of God's people that I may be entirely 
resigned to His will, at all times, and in all things. Blessed be His 
holy name, that, though I suffer much, He gives me strength pro- 
portioned to my day ! Of my acceptance with Him, and the reali- 
zation of a precious Redeemer, I have no doubt. 

I have no merit, no righteousness of my own to plead : my suffi- 
ciency is in my Saviour ; in His righteousness I feel secure. The 
general course of my spiritual life is like that of a gently flowing 
river, and my sky is almost always clear and bright ; but its bright- 
ness is sometimes obscured by a passing cloud, which has a depress- 

28 



326 THE LIFE OF GEORGE II STUART. 

ing influence on my mind; sometimes the strong man armed, 
availing himself of my weakness, takes possession of my feeble 
tenement ; but soon a Stronger far than he comes to the rescue ; 
the intruder is forcibly bound and ejected, and deprived of all his 
armor in which he had trusted, and again — /" hold the Fort" 

I read, with much interest, what you said in your letter respecting 
your " Golden Wedding :" had I known that such an event was in 
contemplation, I think that I should, like many of your friends, 
have contributed my quota to the congratulatory offerings usual on 
such occasions. Though I have been doomed to a life of singleness, 
I have always believed that there is more real happiness in the 
conjugal state than in a life of celibacy. The Creator Himself has 
said that "it is not good for man to be alone." I regard woman, 
then, as one of Heaven's best worldly gifts to man, in order to 
cheer and brighten his pathway in this sin-stricken world. My 
bachelor life is not from choice, but from necessity ; I have never 
been able to support a wife as I would have wished. Many of my 
truest friends have been ladies. Many of my best friends now are 
ladies. 

I have become so frail that, when I commence a letter to a friend, 
I think perhaps it may be the last which that friend may ever 
receive from me ; but, be that as it may, while I can hold a pen, or 
trace a line on paper, you may expect to receive at intervals written 
evidences of my undying gratitude and affection. May the Giver of 
all good abundantly bless you, and recompense you, in the world 
to come, for your kindness to me in this ; and finally grant us a 
happy meeting, at His right hand, in the Kingdom of Eternal 
Glory, is the sincere and fervent prayer of 

Your unworthy brother in tribulation, 
Wm. A. Washington. 

P.S. Soon after I began this letter I was taken with one of my 
sudden spells of sickness, and had to keep my bed two days. I 
reserved the date until I finished my letter, and then wrote it down, 

W. A. W. 

Hon. Geo. H. Stuart. 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 327 

From the Rev. Mr. Moorehead of New York State, the 
editor has received the following account of a character- 
istic incident of Mr. Stuart's life at Clifton : 

" While I was at breakfast one Sabbath morning in the 
June of 1 87 1, I was asked by ' mine host,' who also was 
janitor of the Universalist church, if I knew a man at 
the Water-Cure by the name of Stuart. I told him I 
did know a patient of that name, and that it was Mr. 
George H. Stuart, w r ho had been President of the Chris- 
tian Commission during the war, and was known far and 
wide as a very warm-hearted and earnest Christian. He 
said, ' Yes, that must be the man.' Then he went on to 
tell how Mr. Stuart had dropped into the church that 
morning, while he was giving the finishing touches with 
the dust-cloth to pulpit and pew, and that, after a good 
w r arm shake of the hand, Mr. Stuart suggested that it 
was the right place and time to have a word of prayer. 
He consented, and ( Mr. Stuart prayed, and prayed, and 
prayed, louder and louder, until I believe he could have 
been heard all over Clifton.' After ending his prayer 
Mr. Stuart asked my Universalist friend if he thought 
his pastor w r ould have any objections to his preaching in 
the church, and was assured that both the pastor and the 
congregation would be glad to have him use their pulpit." 

" Believing that Mr. Stuart had asked the question with- 
out any serious intention of preaching there, I determined 
to surprise him by arranging to have him occupy that 
pulpit on the following Sabbath, as I knew he could. So 
I told Mr. G. to have his pastor announce Mr. Stuart for 
three o'clock in the afternoon of next Sabbath. It was 
done, and placards to that effect were posted about the 
Water-Cure early next morning. To one of these I 



328 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

called Mr. Stuart's attention in good time, and I will not 
attempt to describe his astonishment, or to repeat his 
many inquiries as to how it came about. It is enough 
to say that at the hour appointed Mr. Stuart preached to 
a larger audience, I presume, than ever was gathered 
there before or since. Nor did I ever see an audience 
more completely under the power of a speaker. All 
through his discourse were threaded thrilling incidents 
of the war, each with an uplifted finger pointing to 
Christ. I question whether there was in the whole 
church a dry eye as the speaker brought from camp, 
battle-field, and hospital the willing witnesses of the love 
of Jesus Christ, and of His power to save. It showed 
that the Gospel might be preached as powerfully by an 
unordained man as by any on whose head had been laid 
the hands of the Presbytery or of a Bishop." 



The Rev. Joseph Henry Gilmore, professor in Roches- 
ter University, and the author of the beautiful hymn " He 
leadeth me," is the friend who acted as Mr. Stuart's faith- 
ful amanuensis in the preparation of these memoirs. In 
response to the request that he would say the closing 
words of the book, he writes as follows : 

" It was not my privilege to know George H. Stuart 
in the maturity of his powers, when he was numbered 
among the merchant princes of our land, and was per- 
sonally active in every good work. I first met him at 
Clifton Springs some seven years ago, when he was en- 
feebled in body, and bereft of property. I honored 
him, from the first, for the blameless life he had led, and 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 329 

the services he had rendered to Church and State in 
the hour of our Nation's peril. I recognized him as an 
exponent and defender — in some sense a champion — of 
that spirit of catholicity which is increasingly dear to 
every Christian heart. But our relations at first were 
not intimate ; and I was not often found amid the little 
group to whom he loved to talk, and who loved to hear 
him talk of the eminent men with whom he had been 
associated, and the part which he had been called upon 
to play in advancing the kingdom of our Lord. When- 
ever we met, it was with kindly courtesy, but our meet- 
ings were infrequent, even when we were beneath the 
same roof, till about four years ago. At that time I was 
passing through a crisis in my religious history which 
made Christian sympathy very precious and very help- 
ful to me; and I found nowhere readier and more hearty 
sympathy than that accorded me by the good old man 
from whom I had previously held aloof." 

" From that time to this, our relations have been inti- 
mate, and as I have come to know my good brother 
Stuart better, I have come to cherish a very different 
estimate of him from that which I at first conceived. 
His eager interest in everything that concerned the 
Master's cause ; his tender sympathy for every phase 
of earnest Christian thought and feeling; his intense 
desire still to be of some slight service, if only indirectly 
and through others, to those whom he had formerly 
aided by his own bounty ; seemed to me touching and 
beautiful. He was evidently living up to that guidance- 
verse which he had chosen in the full maturity of his 
powers and the time of his busiest activity, i Occupy 
till I come:' though sometimes I thought that 'The 

28* 



330 THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 

zeal of Thine house hath eaten me up' would have been 
a motto quite as appropriate; for nothing has seemed 
really to interest my brother during these years since I 
have known him intimately save the person of Christ, 
the cause of Christ, and the friends of Christ. ,, 

" It did not seem to me at all strange that Mr. Stuart's 
friend John Wanamaker, having known him at his best 
and personally felt the touch of his power, should believe 
that some memorial of Mr. Stuart's life should be given 
to the public, — that, since God had used him so wonder- 
fully, there should be some permanent record of the fact. 
It did seem to me that the story of the young Irish lad's 
life, crowned with honor because dominated by the spirit 
of the Master, could hardly fail to benefit and bless the 
young men of our land, in whose welfare Mr. Stuart had 
always felt so deep an interest. Providentially, as I 
thought, I was to be at Clifton Springs every Saturday 
for a number of weeks. Providentially, I had a sufficient 
knowledge of short-hand to be able to take down, from 
Mr. Stuart's dictation, the story of his life, — a task which 
a more expert stenographer who was not in sympathy 
with the man and measurably familiar with his theme 
could hardly have accomplished. Providentially, one of 
my students (Mr. C. F. Bullard) had the ability and the 
leisure to make a type-written copy of my phonographic 
notes. And so, giving up another literary engagement 
for this purpose, I spent my Saturday half-holiday for 
many weeks in Mr. Stuart's sick-chamber, helping, if I 
might, to perpetuate the memory and extend the influence 
of one whom I had learned to love and honor." 

" My respect for the man, and my conviction that it 
w r as wise to give some memorial of his life to the public, 



THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. STUART. 33 1 

were only increased by the hours that we spent together 
at this time, — hours of physical pain and weakness to my 
friend, but hours which I thank God that I was able to 
give to his service. The first time that I took my seat 
beside him with pencil and note-book in hand, Mr. Stuart 
said to me, " Professor, the only object that I have in 
view in attempting this task is to do good, if possible. 
We ought to begin our work with prayer. Won't you 
pray ?" And I did pray then, as I am praying now, for 
a blessing on the man, and for a blessing on the story of 
his life. 



APPENDICES. 



APPENDIX I. 



The Six Stuarts. 

These were George H. and David — Joseph and James 
— Robert L. and Alexander. The first four named were 
brothers, and not related to the last two, who were also 
brothers. The first pair were partners in business, as 
were also the second and third pairs, and all were office- 
bearers or active members of the Presbyterian Church. 

The only survivor of the six is George H., who is pre- 
paring his autobiography, which when published will be 
a fitting companion of the Memorials of that other Amer- 
ican philanthropist William E. Dodge. He was treasurer 
of the Reformed Presbyterian Synod, whose missionaries 
in India were sustained mainly by that Synod, but by 
special arrangement were under the care and control 
of the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian 
Church. 

He was at the same time partner with his brother 
David in a banking-house in Liverpool. My official 
correspondence with him led to the inquiry, with a view 
to facilitate and economize remittances, on what terms 
his house would become the acceptors and guarantors 
of bills of credit issued by the treasurer of the Board to 
our eastern missions. Upon his offer to perform this 
service gratuitously and cheerfully, a relationship was 
established with David Stuart & Co., which continued 

335 



336 APPENDIX I. 

twenty-two years, with an average annual saving in 
commissions of not less than four thousand dollars, 
which received the grateful recognition of the General 
Assembly. 

During this time the country passed through the civil 
war, and the consequent depreciation of its currency 
continued long after the war closed. In those trying 
days our Board had no financial committee and no se- 
curity fund, and the responsibility of sustaining its credit 
and keeping up mission supplies devolved mainly upon 
the treasurer, special notice pf which was made by Mr. 
William A. Booth, a member of the Board, in an address 
before the General Assembly at St. Louis in 1874. 

About the time of the greatest depreciation of the cur- 
rency David Stuart visited New York, and, in an inter- 
view had with him in which he was made acquainted 
with the embarrassment attending the treasuryship, he 
assured me that, should there be any failure from any 
cause to meet the payment of his maturing acceptances, 
neither the Board nor the missions should suffer. He, 
moreover, advised that I make no sacrifices to sustain the 
Board's credit with his house, but rather delay remitting 
until reasonable rates of exchange could be obtained. 
Happily, I had no occasion to take advantage of this 
advice, yet it was a great relief to have this assurance of 
sympathy and cooperation from so important an agency 
in our mission supplies. 

During the twenty-two years of this relation with 
David Stuart & Co. I purchased all our foreign exchange 
of the New York house of Joseph and James Stuart (J. 
and J. Stuart & Co.), not because of any connection be- 
tween the two firms (for each was independent of the 



APPENDIX I. 337 

other), but because of their accommodating business 
methods with me. In those non-specie-paying times 
there were wide fluctuations in the cost of exchange day 
by day and sometimes hour by hour, and in buying from 
this house I obtained the most favorable quotations of 
the market between steamer days, and sometimes on set- 
tlement concessions were made when the rate had after- 
wards fallen. The sudden death of Joseph Stuart, stricken 
with paralysis in his office, and subsequently that of James 
after a protracted illness, deprived me of valued advisers 
and the mission cause of warm supporters. 

In 1879 reverses came upon the house of David Stuart 
& Co. which involved the Board in heavy pecuniary loss, 
though net to the extent of the gains which had accrued 
from their long gratuitous services. The first knowledge 
of this failure came to me from Mr. Jacob D. Vermilye, 
President of the Merchants National Bank, who not 
only tendered his services in protecting the credit of the 
Board, but also in obtaining from friends in New York 
special funds to reimburse any ascertained loss. In the 
latter generous undertaking he was arrested by Alexander 
Stuart, who had planned another way to meet the same 
end. This was disclosed a few months later when he 
invited Secretary Lowrie and myself to dine at his house. 
At the table he referred to the long and gratuitous ser- 
vices rendered the Board by David and George H. Stuart, 
and his personal esteem for them. He expressed the 
desire that no retrenchment of our work would be made 
by reason of any loss through them, and then asked the 
amount of the Board's indebtedness, which he evidently 
intended at once to cover with his check. Not being 
able to answer directly the question as put, I promised 
p w 29 



338 APPENDIX I. 

to furnish a written statement in detail of our financial 
condition then and as estimated at the close of the year. 
This was done, but before hearing from him he was called 
to his rest and reward, having bequeathed his estate to 
his brother Robert. 

Shortly before closing the mission accounts of that 
year, I informed the surviving brother of the amount of 
deficiency in the treasury, and a few hours later received 
his check which more than met this, and it was the first 
year since the Reunion that the Board reported itself out 
of debt. 

Since the death of Robert L. Stuart his widow has 
been a close imitator of her husband's generous doings 
in his lifetime. The year before my official connection 
with the Board ended, on my informing her of what was 
needed fo place the balance on the credit side of the 
treasurer's Annual Report, she, in addition to her yearly 
contribution, added a sum which fully met the required 
amount. 

Thus was I indebted to the six Stuarts — or rather 
should I say to the seven — for their generous co-opera- 
tion in the important duties entrusted to me as treasurer 
of our Foreign Mission Board. 

William Rankin. 

Newark, N. J., November i, 1889. 



APPENDIX II. 



History of General Grant's Log Cabin. — Letter 
from General Badeau. 

Head-quarters Armies of the United States, 

Washington, D. C, July 21, 1865. 

Geo. H. Stuart, Esq., Philadelphia : 

My Dear Sir, — Lieut.-Gen. Grant directs me to ac- 
knowledge the receipt of your communication of the 20th 
inst, and to state that he is perfectly willing for the cabin 
in which he lived at City Point to be placed wherever 
you or the citizens of Philadelphia may prefer. * * * * 

The cabin, however, you will permit me to say, has an 
interest beyond that to which, in Gen. Grant's eyes, it 
seems entitled. It was built in November, 1864, so that 
the last four months of the rebellion, immediately prior 
to the great movements which resulted in its overthrow, 
were passed by him within its walls. Here he received 
the reports of his great subordinates almost daily, and 
sent them each their orders and their rewards. Here he 
watched Sherman's route as he came across the continent 
to the sea, and afterwards along his memorable march 
through the Carolinas ; from here he despatched his in- 
structions to Thomas, which resulted in the battle of 
Nashville and the discomfiture of Hood, so that a con- 
centration of any great force in front of Sherman v/as 
impossible. From here he directed Terry in the opera- 
tions which culminated in the fall of Fort Fisher. From 

339 



340 APPENDIX II. 

here he directed Sherman and Schofield, bringing one 
northward through the Carolinas, and the other eastward 
in dead winter across the North, and then sending him 
by sea to meet his great captain at Goldsboro, the co- 
operation being so complete that the two armies arrived, 
one from Nashville and the other from Savannah, on the 
same day. Here he received the rebel commissioners on 
their way to meet President Lincoln ; here he ordered 
Sheridan's glorious movements, whose importance in 
producing the last great result can hardly be over-esti- 
mated ; from here he directed Canby in the campaign 
whose conclusion was the fall of Mobile ; from here he 
despatched Wilson and Stoneman on their final raids. 
Here he received the President, Gen. Sherman, Gen. 
Sheridan, Gen. Meade, and Admiral Porter, in an inter- 
view interesting beyond comparison, in the meeting at 
the time and place of so many men of importance by 
their talents and their position ; and here the lamented 
Lincoln passed many of the latest hours of his life before 
its crowning success had been achieved. Here the last 
orders for all these generals were penned before the 
commencement of the great campaign which terminated 
the war. 

These are reminiscences which I have ventured to 
recall, conscious that they must always be of transcend- 
ent interest to the patriot and the historical student, 
although to the appreciation of my chief they seem — as 
he directs me to style them — insignificant. 

I am, my dear sir, with great respect, 

Your obedient servant, 

Adam Badeau, 
Brvt. Col. and Mil. Secy. 



APPENDIX III. 



Letters from Generals Grant, Sherman, and 
Others, on the Christian Commission. 

Head-quarters Armies of the United States, 

Washington, D. C, January 12, 1866. 

George H. Stuart, Chairman United States Christian 
Commission : 
Dear Sir, — Your letter of the 10th instant, an- 
nouncing that the United States Christian Commission is 
on the eve of closing its work, is received. I hope the 
same labor will never be imposed on any body of citizens 
again in this country as the Christian Commission have 
gone through in the last four years. It affords me 
pleasure to bear evidence to the services rendered, and 
the manner in which they have been rendered. By the 
agency of the Commission much suffering has been saved 
on almost every battle-field and in every hospital during 
the late rebellion. No doubt thousands of persons now 
living attribute their recovery in great part to volunteer 
agencies, sent to the field and hospital by the contribu- 
tions of our loyal citizens. The United States Sanitary 
Commission and the United States Christian Commission 
have been the principal agencies in collecting and dis- 

29* 34i 



342 APPENDIX III. 

tributing their contributions. To them the army feel the 
same gratitude the loyal public feel for the services 
rendered by the army. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

U. S. Grant, 
Lieutenant- General. 



Letter from Major-General Sherman. 

Head-quarters Military Division of the Mississippi, 

St. Louis, January 19, 1866. 

George H. Stuart, Chairman United States Christian 
Commission, Philadelphia : 
My Dear Sir, — I have your letter of January 15, ask- 
ing an expression of my opinion of the operations of your 
Commission during the war. That the people of the 
United States should have voluntarily contributed six mil- 
lions of dollars for the moral welfare of the soldiers em- 
ployed, in addition to other and vast charitable contribu- 
tions, is one of the wonders of the world. That the agents 
for the application of this charity did manifest a zeal and 
energy worthy of the object, I myself am a willing witness ; 
and I would be understood as heartily endorsing, without 
reserve, their efforts, when applied to the great hospitals 
and rendezvous in the rear of the great armies. At 
times I may have displayed an impatience when the 
agents manifested an excess of zeal in pushing forward 
their persons and services when we had no means to 
make use of their charities. But they could hardly be 
expected to measure the importance of other interests, 
and I have always given them credit for good and pure 
intentions. 



APPENDIX III. 343 

Now that the great end is attained, and in our quiet 
rooms and offices we can look back on the past with 
composure, I am not only willing, but pleased with the 
opportunity to express my belief that your charity was 
noble in its conception, and applied with as much zeal, 
kindness, and discretion as the times permitted. 
I am, with great respect, 

Your obedient servant, 

W. T. Sherman, 
Major-General. 



Letter from Vice-Admiral Farragut. 

43 East Thirty-Sixth Street, New York, 

January 1 6, 1866. 

Dear Sir, — I feel satisfied no one would bear higher 
testimony in behalf of the Christian Commission than 
myself. Although, from our peculiar organization and 
smallness of our numbers, we were less dependent in the 
navy than in the army upon its bounties, still we always 
had the assurance from its benevolent agents that we could 
have everything we desired ; but our knowledge of the fact 
that our brethren of the army were liable to a greater accu- 
mulation of suffering and privations, owing to the diffi- 
culties of transportation, &c, made us always content that 
they should be recipients of the greatest amount of your 
benevolence, and it is certain that wherever I went I always 
heard the Christian Commission, its generous philan- 
thropy and patriotic devotion, most warmly extolled. My 
personal admiration of the generosity and sacrifices made 
by many of your noble Society is unbounded; and I have 



344 APPENDIX III 

no doubt it will receive the blessings of God and of the 
whole country. 

Please convey to your associates in the Commission 
these my sentiments of high appreciation, and accept 
yourself my high esteem. 

Very respectfully, 

D. G. Farragut, 
Vice-Admiral. 

Letter from Major-General Howard. 

War Department, Bureau of Freedmen, 
Washington, January 20, 1866. 

Dear Sir, — It affords me unusual gratification to re- 
spond to your kindly sentiments, expressed in your 
letter, just received. 

My purpose was to be a follower of Christ while I 
stood in my place as a defender of the integrity of the 
Government, and a steady opponent of slavery. God 
has given us our Government, and broken the power of 
slavery; and I try to feel thankful and give Him the 
glory, and continue to obey His behests. 

You always had my hearty approval and sympathy in 
the work of the Christian Commission. Your work of 
physical relief is so connected, in my recollection, with 
that of the Sanitary Commission, and that of special 
benevolent associations, that I will only say that, where- 
ever I found one of your agents, either in the Army of 
the Potomac, of the Cumberland, or the Tennessee, I 
found them faithful in such things, to the important 
trust committed to them. I have seen them among the 
soldiers in prayer-meetings, Sunday-schools, and at Sun- 



APPENDIX III. 345 

day services, and, without exception, they were full of 
zeal and energy in the Master's service. Their spiritual 
work, encouraging chaplains and aiding them with books, 
Bibles, Testaments, and with themselves ready to speak 
of Christ crucified, at all times and in all places, bringing 
to us professing Christians cheerful faces, and warm 
pressure of the hand, with a " God bless and protect 
you," and following us to every hospital and battle-field, 
to point to the only name whereby a soldier can be saved, 
though he may be ever so brave and patriotic — it can 
never be estimated here below. 

God reward you, my dear sir, for the impulse you gave 
to the great work of the Christian Commission, and for 
your indomitable energy displayed in perpetuating it till 
the end. 

With your strong faith in Christ you took officers, 
soldiers, and citizens in the arms of your love, and bore 
them right on, to work for our God and for humanity. 

The Christian Commission has written its record on 
the tablets of thousands of precious souls, and needs 
nothing to render it perpetual, for its influence is eternal. 
Very gratefully yours in the best of bonds, 

O. O. Howard, 
Major- General. 

George H. Stuart, Esq., Philadelphia, Penn. 



Letter from Chief-Justice Chase. 

Washington, D. C, January 30, 1866. 

My dear Sir, — Your letter, asking my judgment of 
the work of the Christian Commission during the recent 



346 APPENDIX III 

civil war, has been received. It was not my privilege to 
participate directly in that work, nor to see much of its 
immediate effects in the camps, or on the battle-fields, or 
in the hospitals. What I know of it was chiefly from 
testimony ; but that testimony was ample and reliable. 
And I feel myself fully warranted in saying that no such 
human ministration of beneficence and loving kindness 
was ever witnessed before in any age or country. Ex- 
cept in a Christian land no such ministration would be 
possible. Perhaps it is not too much to say that it would 
not in this age be possible in any Christian land except 
our own. The responsibility which our institutions im- 
pose on each citizen for the safety of the Republic, and 
the concern in every operation of the Government which 
the personal interest of each citizen necessarily creates, 
filled the ranks of our armies with hundreds of thousands 
of our best young men. 

The warm affections of those they left at home, the 
obligations of Christian duty which pressed upon the 
conscience of almost all men and women in our land, 
and the spirit of self-denying, fraternal love which a free 
Christianity called into action throughout our country, 
naturally found expression and manifestation in the 
Christian Commission. In what other land do such in- 
fluences act so powerfully? In what other land have 
they so free a course ? The work of the Commission for 
the war is ended. Its kindly ministration to the soldiers 
of the Union — not limited, indeed, to them, but freely 
extended to sick or wounded or imprisoned soldiers, 
without regard to uniform or service — are no longer re- 
quired in camp, or field, or hospital. But they will never 
be forgotten. No history of the American Civil War — 



APPENDIX III, 347 

let us pray God it may be the last ! — will ever be written 
without affectionate and admiring mention of the Chris- 
tian Commission. Not alone in histories of the earth 
will its record be preserved. Its work reached beyond 
time, and its " record is on high." 

Yours very truly, 
S. P. Chase. 
George H. Stuart, Esq., Philadelphia. 



APPENDIX IV. 



Address before the British and Foreign Bible 
Society, London, May 2, 1866. 

My Lord, — It affords me great pleasure to have the 
honor of seconding the resolution which has just been 
moved, and so eloquently supported by my Christian 
brother who last addressed you. I appear before you 
to-day as a most unworthy representative, if not of the 
oldest member of your family, certainly one of the largest 
of your children. I regret that such a child of yours, 
which has grown to such proportions in my adopted 
country, is not better represented upon this occasion. I 
owe the position which I occupy to-day doubtless to the 
relation which, under God, I was called upon to sustain 
to the army which went forth to subdue the slaveholders' 
rebellion. The American Bible Society was born in the 
year 18 16, and next week it will attain its fiftieth year. 
During the current — its Jubilee — year it has had a special 
work assigned to it, but to that special work I will not 
now further refer. I have the honor of being supported 
on this occasion by a brother from my own city, who is a 
distinguished member of the Protestant Episcopal Church.. 
I am a Presbyterian, and he is an Episcopalian, but we 
have stood side by side in many of the battles of the late 
war, and ministered alike to the soldiers of the Confederate 
army and the soldiers of the Union army. 
348 



APPENDIX IV. 349 

Our Society, during the past year, sent out from its de- 
positories 951,945 volumes, and during the fifty years of 
its existence it has issued 21,660,679 copies of the Word 
of God. It received last year 642,645 dollars, that was 
35,000 dollars less than the sum received in the preceding 
year, but the falling off was mainly owing to a diminution 
in legacies, while the general receipts are as large as ever. 
The amount of money received last year was 200,000 
dollars more than its largest receipts during any year 
previous to the rebellion. The capacity of the Bible 
Society was taxed to the utmost during the war. Al- 
though capable of throwing off, through its steam-power 
presses, twelve copies of the Word of God every work- 
ing minute, there were times when the demand from the 
army was such that those presses were unable to meet it, 
and it never fell during all that time below the issue of 
nine copies per minute. When the war commenced we 
had an army of 16,000 men scattered from Maine to Cal- 
ifornia, but in the course of the war there were called 
into the field 2,000,000 of men — young men from schools 
and seminaries — young men unused to the hardships of 
the battle-field ; and the Christian people of the land felt 
that we ought not only to follow these young men with 
our prayers, but that we ought above all to furnish them 
with the Bread of Life, through the Gospel of Jesus 
Christ. During the four years of the struggle there 
were distributed, among the army and navy alone, over 
2,000,000 copies of God's Word, in whole or in part. 
The principal agency for that distribution was the United 
States Christian Commission, which circulated 1,466,748 
copies, all of which were received gratuitously from the 
American Bible Society, with the exception of 15,000 

30 



350 APPENDIX IV. 

copies forwarded to us from your own depository ; and 
I am here to-day to return you our grateful thanks for 
that contribution. It was one of a most welcome de- 
scription, and there was hardly an officer commanding 
a corps, division, or a brigade in the whole army who 
was not supplied with one of your substantially-bound 
volumes. We not only received from this Society 15,000 
copies of God's Word, but we also received an as- 
surance that if we drew at sight our drafts would be 
honored. We felt grateful for that noble offer ; but, 
thanks be to God, our own Society had means placed in 
its treasury which enabled it to meet every want. 

Let me allude to one of the many incidents in the 
American war. I don't know what " the Old Lady in 
Threadneedle Street," as the Bank of England is called, 
would say if she were asked to give £$ for a copy of a 
note which I hold in my hand ; but she would probably 
say, " We don't do business in that way." This is the 
bank-note sent by a poor woman in England during the 
war to buy Bibles for the soldiers of the North. Fifty 
or a hundred guineas would not buy it [here holding up 
the original bank-bill], for it has incited to many other 
gifts, and brought "much money" to our treasury; and 
if you have any difficulty, my lord, with regard to your 
Building Fund, it might perhaps be well if you were to 
borrow it. The letter enclosing it is as follows. It 
was addressed to President Lincoln, and by him sent 
to me. 

" Dear President, — I hope you will pardon me for 
troubling you. Ohio is my native State, and I so much 
wish to send a trifle in the shape of a £$ Bank-of-England 



APPENDIX IV. 351 

note to buy Bibles for the poor wounded soldiers of the 
North, which I hope they may read. 

" Yours very respectfully, 

u Mary Talbot Sorby. 
" Fir Cliff, Derbydale, Derbyshire, England/' 

Let me now say a word or two about our United 
States Christian Commission, which exerted itself so 
much among our soldiers during the war. That Com- 
mission was simpiy the Church of Christ in all her 
branches, in an organized form, going forth in time of 
war, as our blessed Master went through the streets of 
Jerusalem and along the shores of the Sea of Galilee. 
Where did these men get their commission to go forth 
to the army, carrying bread for the body in one hand 
and the Bread of Life in the other? I believe that 
they got it from the example of our Saviour Himself. 
We sent forth the Bible and other books by the hands 
of men of burning zeal, not mere perfunctory agents. 
There were ministers who came to us, and offered them- 
selves for the work ; but we said, " No ; you have not 
succeeded at home, and you are not likely to succeed in 
the army." We wanted only men who were willing to 
put off the black coat and the white cravat, and would 
put on the army attire, and, if need be, would undertake 
to make with their own hands gruel for the soldiers. I 
will tell you what happened on one occasion. A rev- 
erend doctor of divinity was making gruel for the sol- 
diers, and was putting into the gruel something that 
would make it more palatable. Some of the soldiers 
were busily engaged watching his movements, and one 
of them exclaimed, " Go it, doctor ; put some more of 



352 APPENDIX IV, 

that stuff in, and it will be the real Calvinistic gruel." 
In another case, a man saw a reverend doctor engaged 
washing bloody shirts in a brook, and called out to him, 
"Doctor, what are you doing?" The doctor replied, 
" The shirts supplied to the army are exhausted, and also 
those of our own Commission. The wounded are suffer- 
ing from their stiffened and clotted shirts, and I thought 
I might undertake to wash a few of them in the brook. 
Do you think I am wrong ?" " Wrong 1" said the other, 
" oh, no. I never saw you walking so closely in the 
line of your Divine Master before." These men have 
not only ministered to the bodily wants of the soldiers, 
but to their moral, and chiefly to their spiritual necessi- 
ties. They circulated upwards of eight millions of copies 
of knapsack books, including such works as Newman 
Hall's " Come to Jesus" and Mr. Reid's " Blood of Jesus." 
The history of these books will never be written. They 
came back to the families of the soldiers in America, 
many of them stained with their former owner's blood. 
They became heirlooms of those families, and they will 
never be parted with. Besides these, there were eighteen 
million copies of our best religious newspapers issued to 
the army, fresh as they appeared from the press. The 
total receipts of the Committee were six and a quarter 
millions of dollars. The books, etc., were distributed by 
about 5000 unpaid agents. How did we get these 
agents ? They got nothing for their labors. We would 
not employ any agents who wanted pay for their work, 
except a few permanent men to superintend the work. 
We have gone to wardens of a church, and said, " We 
want your pastor to labor for us for a few months." We 
have, on one occasion at least, arrested the ministrations 



APPENDIX IV. 353 

of the pulpit for the urgent demands of the field of con- 
flict. And these men did get pay, — pay far richer than 
was ever coined in any mint : it was the " God bless 
you" of the dying soldier. 

It may be said in this work of distributing the Bible, 
" Was there not wilful waste ?" I am bold to say there 
was not. I have myself distributed many thousand 
copies of the Bible, and I never met with a refusal but 
once, and that was from a German infidel. Now, I belong 
to that portion of young America which was born in 
Ireland — excuse me for that — and I do not know what it 
is to give in. So I thought I would endeavor to take the 
German infidel by a flank movement. I called his atten- 
tion to the beauty of the book : it was very handsomely 
gotten up. I told him it was what is called Cromwell's 
Bible, and I told him how Cromwell's soldiers read this 
book, and how it enabled them to fight so vigorously ; 
but still I gained nothing by my flank movement. I was 
about to leave him, when I thought I would make another 
attempt. I asked him where he was from. " From 
Philadelphia." " Philadelphia ! why, that is my own 
city." He brightened up at this, and asked the street 
where I lived. I told him in such and such a street, and 
I said, " I am going back there, and I expect to tell the 
result of my labors in the largest Protestant Episcopal 
church in that city on Sabbath evening next." Don't 
be alarmed, Episcopalians and Presbyterians, at the fact 
of a layman like myself being allowed to speak there. 
" Well," he said, " and what will you say ?" " I shall tell 
them that I have been engaged for so long a time in dis- 
tributing Bibles among our soldiers ; that I never met 
with but one refusal, and that was by a soldier from our 
x 30* 



354 APPENDIX IV. 

own city." " Well, and what more will you say ? J> 
" Why, I shall tell them that I began to distribute Bibles 
this morning at the White House" — a place somewhat 
like your Buckingham Palace, only not so fine. " And 
who was the first man to whom I offered a copy ? Why, 
it was to President Abraham Lincoln. When I went to 
see the President he was writing, and when I handed him 
a copy of Cromwell's Bible he stood up — and you know 
he was a very tall man and took a long time to straighten. 
He received the Bible, and made me a low bow, and 
thanked me; and now I shall have to go back and tell 
him that one of his soldiers who was fighting his battles 
refused to take the book which he had accepted so 
gladly." The German softened at once. He said, " Did 
the President take the book? well, then, I guess I may 
take one too." I must say, that in the distribution of 
copies of the Bible the refusals to receive them were not 
more than one in a thousand, and these were Roman 
Catholics, while I am glad to say that many of these 
gladly and thankfully received the Word of God. But 
was there any waste of the books so received ? No, a 
soldier would part with anything rather than his New 
Testament; "and," said a little fellow, a soldier from 
Pittsburg, to his comrade, when the Union army was 
repulsed from the heights of Fredericksburg, when the 
rebels were pouring in shot and shell upon our retreating 
columns, " Joe," said he, " if it were not that the Testa- 
ment given me by my mother is in my knapsack I would 
throw it away, but I can't do it." Wilful waste was, I 
believe, entirely unknown. I have been in correspondence 
with thousands of agents who have been engaged in this 
work of distribution ; and I have heard of only one case 



APPENDIX IV. 355 

where a soldier wilfully threw away his Bible. I have 
the copy with me here to-day; and as my beloved 
brother, Baptist Noel, said that the Word of God would 
never return to Him void, so I am here to say, that, 
though this soldier, with a wicked and diabolical heart, 
threw away his Testament in the streets of Memphis, 
that Testament was picked up by another soldier, himself 
also careless and wicked, but who was led, from the 
reading of it, to the foot of the cross, where he found 
peace and joy. It was sent to the American Bible 
Society [the copy referred to was here exhibited], who 
treasure it as a relic, or rather as a memento of the war. 
The Bible was not only instrumental in saving souls : 
there are hundreds of cases where it was also instrumental 
in saving the lives of the soldiers. Here is a copy 
[holding it up] which was published in England by 
Messrs. Eyre and Spottiswoode. That Testament has a 
history which, if it could speak, I might well remain 
silent. It ran the blockade ; it found its way to a soldier 
of the Southern army, who placed it in his bosom, and 
here is the hole which was made by a bullet, which, 
entering at the last chapter of the Revelation, penetrated 
through the first chapter of Matthew, and, grazing the 
outer cover, saved the man's life. There are hundreds 
of such copies preserved in numerous families through- 
out America, and money could not purchase them. The 
desire to receive copies of the Word of God is not to be 
described. I stood on the top of an omnibus, in the 
midst of 3000 soldiers, on a hill in Virginia, and they all 
clamored round me for books to read. A delegate of 
the Society went up to the First Tennessee Cavalry, and 
he wrote me a letter, the substance of which was, " Dear 



356 APPENDIX IV. 

Brother Stuart, — I never bought a pack of cards but 
once, and I want to tell you the circumstances under 
which I bought them. I came to a spot where I found 
four young men — mere boys they were, and might be 
the sons of pious mothers — and they were playing at 
cards. I said, ' Boys, I should like to make an exchange 
with you. I will give you copies of this beautiful edition 
of the New Testament in exchange for this pack of 
cards.' They exclaimed, 'That is just what we want. 
We are playing with these cards because time hangs so 
heavy on our hands in this dull camp-life. We have 
nothing to read. We are glad of anything to pass the 
time/ I handed to each of them a copy of the New 
Testament. ' Now, won't you be kind enough to write 
your name in it ?' they said, ' that we may know to whom 
we are indebted for these books/ I wrote my name 
accordingly, and then I said, ' Now, won't you be kind 
enough to write your names on these cards, that I might 
know from whom I have received them ?' But there was 
not one of them would acknowledge the cards." 

But I must pass on. Let me only say that all that has 
been written or said as to the effect of the Word of God 
in the army is true, and far more. Let me give you one 
or two instances of the power of the Word of God 
among the dying on the battle-field. At the bloody field 
of Williamsburg a soldier in the Union army was mortally 
wounded. His sufferings were indescribable : he could 
not restrain his moans and groans. A comrade found 
his way over to cheer him, and to encourage him to hold 
up. " Oh, William !" he said, " I had hoped to die sur- 
rounded by my family and the friends of my youth ; but 
here I must pass away. If you should survive the war, 



APPENDIX IV. 357 

I wish to send a message home to my family. I have a 
dear wife at home, two sweet children, and an aged 
mother, who loved me, and whom I dearly loved." He 
then took from his breast a packet, in which was his 
wife's portrait. " Open that," he said ; and, handing his 
companion a letter, said, " Read this, her last letter to 
me, and then I shall think I see and hear her again. My 
dear mother, when I parted from her, followed me to the 
door. She could not speak, but I knew what she meant ; 
and, as her parting gift, she put a Bible into my hands. 
Take this back to her. Tell her that the reading of it 
led me to pray, to give my heart to Jesus. It has kept 
me from the evils of the army, and the vices of camp 
life. It has brought me, though on this cold damp earth, 
to die a happy, a peaceful, and, I trust, a triumphant 
death." He looked up to heaven with a sweet smile, and 
said, " Good-by, my dear wife and children ; farewell, my 
beloved mother : we shall meet again in heaven." And 
then, with a long farewell to weary marches, the dying 
soldier passed away, attended by angels to glory as much 
as if he had been at home. So at the bloody conflict of 
Stone River, during a lull of the fight, the cries of a 
wounded soldier were heard asking for assistance, but 
soon his cries were drowned in the renewed roar of the 
artillery. When the conflict was over, then came the 
ghastly work of sorting the dead from the living. When 
the men who were despatched for this service reached 
the spot from whence these cries proceeded, they found 
a lad of nineteen dead, and leaning against the stump of 
a tree. His eyes were open, though fixed in death, a 
celestial smile was on his countenance, his well-worn 
Bible was open, with his finger, cold and stiff in death, 



35 8 APPENDIX IV. 

pointing to that passage which has cheered the heart of 
many a dying Christian, — " Though I walk through the 
valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for 
thou art with me ; thy rod and thy staff they comfort 
me." Oh, mother, wife, sister, if that had been your son, 
husband, or brother, who had died under such circum- 
stances, what would you not give for the possession of 
this blessed copy of the Word of God ? And what has 
been the effect of the distribution of Bibles in the army ? 
I want it to be proclaimed over the whole of this coun- 
try, that in five months General Grant, the noble hero of 
our war, and the accepted instrument in crushing out rebel- 
lion and restoring our glorious union, sent over 800,000 
soldiers back to their homes and places of business ; and 
it may be asked what has been the conduct of these since 
their return. I have seen the returns that were made in 
answer to official inquiries throughout one State — Massa- 
chusetts — and, with a few exceptions, the soldiers have 
returned home better men than when they left; they 
have gone back to their work ; they have saved money ; 
they are, in all cases, the better for their service in the 
army. I am here to bear to this land glad tidings from 
the land of my adoption, that our churches, in many 
places where Jesus is faithfully preached, are being re- 
vived, and they are receiving showers of blessings, so 
that there is scarcely room to receive them. One of our 
churches lately received 128 new members, upwards of 
100 of them from the world. Another church received 
an accession of 155 members, nearly all of them from 
the world. A general in the Union army wrote to me, 
a few days before I left America, to the following effect : 
— " I have lately had little or nothing to do with the 



APPENDIX IV. 359 

army; but, notwithstanding, my hands are full, for I am 
going about assisting ministers of the Gospel to preach 
the word." Our prayer is, that those showers of bless- 
ings which are now falling upon us may reach, not only 
to the British Islands, but be extended over all the 
earth. 

Oh, my friends, I wish I had time to tell you how much 
I love this Society ; but it is time I should bring my ad- 
dress to a close. England and America speak the same 
language ; they worship the same God, Father, Son, and 
Holy Ghost ; they are the two great Protestant nations 
of the earth, and woe to the hand that ever causes blood 
to flow between them. England and America — there 
may have occasionally risen up difference of opinion be- 
tween them, but I state here what I wrote a short time 
since to a member of the Washington Cabinet. I said 
to him, " Sir, I believe all through this terrible conflict 
there are no two agencies which God has so much blessed 
in the preserving of peace between the two countries, as 
the British and Foreign Bible Society and the American 
Bible Society." I say, God bless the British and Foreign 
Bible Society ; God bless its honored President ; may he 
be long spared to carry on his work of usefulness. God 
bless the American Bible Society ; God bless its honored 
President. God bless the Queen of England; long may 
she reign over a prosperous and a free country. God 
bless the President of the United States. And now, my 
friends, my work is done, pardon the imperfections of my 
speech. If I have stammered in what I have said, I can 
only say that I spoke out of the fulness of my heart. I 
long for the coming of that day when all wars shall cease, 
and when Jesus Christ shall rule over all lands. 



360 APPENDIX IV. 

" We are living, we are dwelling, 
In a grand and awful time, 
In an age on ages telling, 
To be living is sublime. 

" Hark ! the waking up of nations, 
Gog and Magog to the fray, 
Hark ! what soundeth — is creation 
Groaning for its latter day ?" 

The President here rose, and, amid the general applause 
of the meeting, said that with his whole heart he reiter- 
ated the prayer of the last speaker — God bless the Presi- 
dent of America ! God bless the Queen of England ! 
and may peace ever reign between the two countries ! 



APPENDIX V. 



Address on Lay Preaching before the Evangelical 
Alliance, New York, October io, 1873. 

The subject which has been assigned to me this after- 
noon, namely, " Lay Preaching," is, in my humble opinion, 
second in practical importance to no other subject which 
has been before this distinguished body, and my only 
regret is that the condition of my own health and other 
circumstances prevent me from presenting that subject 
or opening up its discussion in a way which its impor- 
tance demands. 

In the first place, I would ask this Conference to glance 
at the field. " The field is the world." It has in it 
1,300,000,000 of immortal souls, destined to meet us at 
the judgment bar of God. Of these 1,300,000,000, some 
800,000,000 are bowing down to stocks and to stones, 
the workmanship of their own hands. Besides these 
800,000,000 heathen, there are 160,000,000 Mohamme- 
dans, 240,000,000 adherents to other false systems of 
religion, leaving only 100,000,000 of nominal Protestants. 
It is not for us to say how many of these 100,000,000 are 
true disciples of our risen and exalted Lord and Saviour 
Jesus Christ. We know from well-authenticated statistics 
that with every stroke of the pendulum one immortal 
soul passes from time into eternity ; with every revolu- 
tion of the sun 86,400 immortal souls go to appear before 
Q 3 1 3 61 



362 APPENDIX V. 

the judgment bar of Christ. I would have you pause 
just here, and consider the value of a single soul, for 
whom Christ died upon the cross on Calvary. It was 
but a few weeks ago that I was visiting the Tower in 
London. We were shown through its various rooms, 
and called to examine all those historic mementos of 
by-gone ages that are there preserved, and as we were 
passing out the guide asked us if we would not like to 
visit the jewel-room. We told him yes, and were con- 
ducted thither. There we saw the crown with which 
Queen Victoria — God bless her ! — was crowned. We 
saw all the royal plate, and, with Yankee inquisitiveness, 
we asked the person in attendance its value. He said 
that the present value of those jewels and that plate was 
^4,000,000 sterling, $20,000,000 gold. The next day, in 
company with two beloved ministers, I visited the Field 
Lane Ragged Sabbath-school, where were gathered 1000 
children from the worst dens of vice in London ; and as 
I stood by the desk of the superintendent, there sat before 
me a little girl — she may have been thirteen years of age 
— barefooted, bareheaded, with uncombed hair and un- 
washed face, and I looked down into her bright eyes and 
thought of the jewels in Queen Victoria's crown, and 
said to myself, " That little girl is the possessor of that 
which is of more value than all the crown jewels in the 
world ;" because she possessed an immortal soul, that 
will live either in bliss or in misery throughout the un- 
ceasing ages of eternity. 

Looking out over this vast field of human souls, in 
which Christ's Church is called to labor, I would ask you 
to pause and consider one of the most highly favored 
portions of the field, as an evidence of the need of Lay 



APPENDIX V. 363 

Preaching to aid in accomplishing the great work of the 
world's evangelization. The field to which I refer is the 
United States of America, in which, according to the last 
census, taken in 1870, the population is 38,555,753 ; and 
the number of evangelical churches 54,773, w r ith sittings 
for 19,066,000. From a careful estimate which I have 
made, the average attendance on the Sabbath will not 
exceed thirteen and a half millions, and, after making 
allowance of five and a half millions, for children under 
five years of age, for the sick, and those that are called 
upon to wait on them, there remain some nineteen mil- 
lions, in this land of Bibles, churches, and Sabbaths, un- 
reached and unblessed by the saving influence of the 
Gospel of Christ. 

If further evidence is wanted to confirm this appalling 
statement, that so many of our sons and daughters 
absent themselves from the stated means of grace, I 
point you, then, to the carefully-prepared statistics of a 
city having a population of about 250,000, and with sit- 
tings in evangelical churches for only 23,339 of its in- 
habitants. On a Sabbath morning in October, these 
same churches by actual count contained 12,052 wor- 
shippers, and on the afternoon of the same day this 
number was reduced to 8376. 

Such, my brethren, is the field and its destitution. 
How, then, can the regular ordained ministry ever pos- 
sibly occupy it to the full ? Should they not, then, en- 
courage and seek to develop all the lay talent at the 
Church's disposal ? 

Having spoken of the field, let us, in the second place, 
glance briefly at the seed to be sown in this field. " The 
seed is the Word of God/' "the incorruptible seed of the 



364 APPENDIX V. 

kingdom/' which God has given ; this seed is free, abun- 
dant, living, freely received by us, and should be freely 
given, until the whole earth be full of the glory of God. 
The Divine promise is that that seed shall multiply, some- 
times thirty, sometimes sixty, sometimes a hundred fold, 
spreading on from heart to heart through all the various 
generations that in faith receive and cherish it. It is the 
very nature of that seed thus to spread in whatever soil 
it be sown, whether in the hearts of Christ's faithful 
ministers or in those of his believing people. 

Let us, then, consider, in the third place, Who shall sow 
this seed? We believe and hold fast to the doctrine of 
a holy ministry, called by the Holy Ghost, and set apart 
to this sacred office. We believe also that all who have 
been born of the Spirit should help in some way to sow 
the seed of the kingdom. Bad men, in thousands of 
ways, sow bad seed, scattering firebrands, arrows, and 
death with free hand. Good men should sow good 
seed wherever they go, seed that shall produce grand 
results here, and results yet more glorious in the world 
to come. ' 

No congregation of Christ's disciples should rest satis- 
fied until they have developed and brought into the 
Master's service all the lay talent which they possess : and 
especially should they seek to find a band of earnest, in- 
telligent, soul-loving men to act as lay preachers , not to 
dispense the ordinances, but to " go out into the highways 
and hedges, and to compel the people to come in," by 
telling in plain and loving words " the old, old story of 
Jesus and His love." Some there may be whose gifts 
may qualify them to devote their whole time to the ser- 
vice of the Master as lay evangelists, like Brownlow 



APPENDIX V. 365 

North, Varley, and others in England ; Moody, Burnell, 
and others in America. You have only to read the lives 
of such lay preachers as Bunyan, the Haldanes, Mathe- 
son, Annan, and men of like spirit, to learn what the 
Spirit of God has accomplished through such workers. 

Let us now, in the fourth place, speak of some of those 
places where the seed of the kingdom may be sown by 
laymen. 

All can and should speak of Christ in their own families 
and in the daily avocations of life. How many that 
stand idle in the market-place might find an open door 
of usefulness in the Sabbath-school, either in teaching 
or, at least, in gathering in the neglected, untaught chil- 
dren of our crowded cities and towns, or in distributing 
tracts to those who never enter the house of God ! The 
social prayer-meeting will also afford ample opportunity 
of employment for lay talent. I would speak, however, 
more particularly of the great field of labor for laymen 
which is to be found in the open-air preaching, whether 
in the public street, the crowded thoroughfare, the vacant 
lot, the public park, the road-side, or the way-side field 
in the quiet country. These places, no less than the 
consecrated sanctuary, have been all more or less wit- 
nesses of the faithful presentation of the message of 
Gospel truth, and often the birthplace of many precious 
souls. I have myself been privileged to speak a word 
for the Master on the streets of my own and other cities, 
and have seen the tear of penitence as it has flowed down 
the faces of the hardy sons of toil as they listened to the 
words of Jesus. 

During the past summer, while travelling in Europe, I 
have had the same blessed opportunity of speaking for 

3** 



366 APPENDIX V. 

Christ in the crowded thoroughfares of Belfast, Edin- 
burgh, and London, where large congregations were 
quickly gathered, while a few verses of a familiar hymn 
were sung. These congregations, which I have seen 
convened on the public thoroughfares of both the Old 
and the New World, were largely made up of those 
whose general appearance indicated that they seldom or 
never darkened the doors of the regular places of public 
worship. 

If ever these masses are to be brought under the in- 
fluence of the Gospel, every layman must unite with the 
ministry, and " go out quickly into the streets and lanes 
of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, 
and the halt, and the blind." He who laid that injunction 
upon all His servants was an open-air preacher : as were 
all the prophets whom He had sent to the house of Israel. 
It was by the way-side, on the sea-shore, from the moun- 
tain, and among the cornfields that He spake as never 
man spake, and the common people heard Him gladly. 

Let us, in the fifth and last place, view the extent of 
the obligation ; and here, what more is required than, 
" Let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is 
athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the 
water of life freely. ,, 

Every one who loves Jesus should be an earnest worker 
in the kingdom. Were every Christian privileged to 
bring only one sinner to Christ each year, then in three 
years all in this land would be brought into the Ark of 
Safety, and in six years the world would be evangelized. 
The sainted missionary, Knill, once said that, if there 
remained but one soul on the globe unconverted, and if 
that soul lived in the wilds of Siberia, and if, in order to 



APPENDIX V. 367 

its conversion, it were necessary for every Christian to 
make a pilgrimage there, it were labor well spent. 

A poor Hindoo was dying on the plains of India, and 
sent for a Brahmin, who told him, in answer to his dying 
inquiry, that when he died he would pass into another 
body. " And where next ?" anxiously inquired the dying 
man. " Into still another body," exclaimed the Brahmin. 
In imagination the poor dying Hindoo passed through 
scores and hundreds of animals, and in the agony of the 
dying moment exclaimed, " But, oh ! sir, can you tell me, 
where shall I go last of all?" He passed away with the 
question of all questions on his dying lips still unanswered 
by his priest. Multitudes within the sound of our sanc- 
tuaries are passing daily to the Judgment-seat, with the 
same question upon their lips, unanswered. 

Years ago, when a passenger on board of one of our 
largest ocean steamers then afloat, the cry came from the 
deck that startled the captain and passengers, who were 
seated at their dinner-table; the two startling words, 
" Stop her ! Stop her!" were quickly repeated, and in a 
moment our gallant captain was on the quarter-deck to 
ascertain the cause of the alarming order of the first 
officers ; the wind was blowing a hurricane at the time, 
and the sudden announcement — not " slower," or " half 
speed," but " stop her !" quickly repeated — caused no little 
consternation. As the captain stepped upon the deck, 
the officer who had given the order pointed over the 
larboard quarter to six men overboard, and, without 
waiting to inquire how they got there, or to what country 
they belonged, he instantly gave the order, " Lower away 
the life-boat! lower away the life-boat!" which was quickly 
done ; and while it was being done, he called for volun- 



368 APPENDIX V. 

teers to man the boat. Over thirty men promptly obeyed 
the summons, each one anxious to be among the chosen 
ten who should be privileged to aid in saving those who 
were struggling with the surging waves of the ocean ; 
they went on their perilous voyage, and succeeded in 
saving four, two having found a watery grave. 

Brethren of the Convention, multitudes in all lands are 
" overboard" exposed to the dangers of a more tempestu- 
ous sea ; and while their cry comes up to us for help, let 
the response of the Church be, "Lower away the life-boat" 
of saving knowledge, until every soul shall be brought 
into the ark of safety, and the shout go up from every 
land that " the kingdoms of this world have become the 
kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ." 



APPENDIX VI. 



The Clifton Springs Sanitarium. — An Account of 
its Origin and Progress. 

Prepared by request for the Public Ledger, Philadelphia, November 9, 1888. 

Seventeen years ago, when very sick, the word of a 
friend brought me to Clifton Springs and its Sanitarium, 
and the great help received has led to repeated visits, in 
which I have always found relief as nowhere else, and 
with this, I do not doubt, the prolonging of my life. 
Since that first visit I have often met here an old busi- 
ness man from Texas, who once said, " I wish I had 
known of this place thirty years ago." The writer fully 
believes that among the multitudes of your readers there 
is a large number needing and seeking what they cannot 
find too soon, and what his old friend and himself, with 
thousands more, have here obtained. Travellers in our 
own and other lands tell of similar institutions, more or 
less perfect of their kind, but of none superior to this, 
and nowhere one with a like history and object. As 
this story is one of the chief charms of the place, let me 
sketch it as briefly as possible. 

In 1850, Henry Foster, a young physician in the sec- 
ond year of his professional life, looking for a place to 
put in practice some medical theories then rather new, 
and to attempt the fulfilment of a promise made to the 
y 369 



370 APPENDIX VI. 

only one he called Master, came to what was then known 
as " Sulphur Springs." He found the abundant mineral 
waters there freely used by the early settlers, as they had 
also been by the Seneca Indians, who once held the 
lands ; and with them a rough shed for a bath-house, 
which with its one tub or trough seemed public prop- 
erty ; also a little way-side tavern and ten small dwellings 
along half a mile of country road. Enlisting in the en- 
terprise a few friends who could furnish the small capital 
which he needed and had not, and so securing of the 
primeval forest ten acres, whose only attractive feature 
was in the fine spring he sought, he began his life-work 
by rearing a small wooden structure with rooms for 
some threescore patients ; and there, ministering as phy- 
sician, business manager, bath-man, and man-of-all-work, 
he daily repeated, by his example, his Master's words, 
" I am among you as one who serveth." 

Progress. — By 1856 such faith and works had borne 
the usual fruits, and friends gathered to assist in the 
dedication of a fine brick addition, and consecrate wholly 
to sacred services the beautiful chapel which was within 
its walls. At this time and in these words seems to have 
been made the first public statement of the purpose with 
which this work was begun : " Thankful for these tokens 
of Divine approval, I still adhere to my original plan of 
presenting the institution to God, to be used for the 
benefit of His people." There followed twenty-five 
more years of unceasing toil, of faith often tried but 
never wavering, but with them consequent blessings, 
and then the way seemed clear to him to fulfil the 
covenant he had made with his Master thirty-one years 
before. 



APPENDIX VI. 371 

The Gift. — In 1881, by an elaborate and carefully 
guarded deed of trust, he put the whole property, then 
valued at little, if any, less than a quarter of a million 
of dollars, absolutely and forever out of his hands and 
into the possession of a board of thirteen trustees, com- 
posed of leading representatives of seven evangelical 
denominations of the Church. A Methodist Episcopal 
bishop, the Protestant Episcopal bishop of this diocese, 
and from the foreign mission societies of the Baptist, 
Congregational, Episcopal, Methodist, Presbyterian, and 
Reformed Churches, the senior secretary of each, are 
ex-officio members, and they or their successors, eight 
in all, thus and forever make a majority of the Board. 
If for any reason the gift should fail of its object, the 
trustees, with the Attorney-General of the State, are em- 
powered and directed to dispose of the property and 
divide the proceeds in equal parts among the six mis- 
sionary societies represented in the Board. 

The Trust. — This has not been established to maintain 
a " refuge" or " asylum" for any of the hopeless or in- 
curable classes. For these the Church and the State do 
much, but overlook a large number for whom the gift 
was prepared. In various departments of her work the 
Church has a " noble army" of her best members, who, 
at home and abroad, have become worn down in health, 
and reduced in means by devoted and self-sacrificing 
labors for the souls of men. Rest and all needed medi- 
cal help are to be offered them here, in the hope, first 
and most of all, that they may be fully restored to health, 
comfort, and the labors and fields where their devotion 
and experience will make them available for years of best 
service. With this special want in view, the deed pro- 



372 APPENDIX VI. 

vides that the " beneficiaries shall be missionaries and 
ministers and their families, who are now dependent on 
their salaries for support, and teachers and indigent 
church members unable to pay the prices of the institu- 
tion for treatment." Any of these boarding in the house 
may have a discount of one-third from regular prices, 
but if they find a home in the village all medical counsel, 
attendance, and treatment is free. 

Current Gifts. — This transfer of over a quarter million 
of dollars, representing ninety per cent, of the fruits of 
his life's labor, and by a man still in full possession of all 
his powers, would suggest that the donor is not a believer 
in purely post-mortem benevolence. Plans laid, hopes 
cherished, and labors performed have been for certain 
classes of the Master's friends not in the next century 
alone, but also in this. Such have been at these doors 
since they were first opened, and to meet their imme- 
diate needs has gone out an ever-widening current of 
benevolence, until the board, medical treatment, and 
other gifts in and for this last year of the thirty-eight 
years of its history reached the sum of twenty-one 
thousand dollars. In a former year thirteen thousand 
dollars went to the Young Men's Christian Associa- 
tion in the form of a beautiful structure deeded them 
in trust for all their public and other uses. Another 
one thousand dollars built, fitted, and furnished a fine 
apartment twenty by thirty feet, for reading-room, 
library, and social and musical gatherings of the em- 
ployees. The language of Divine injunction, slightly 
varied, has been a standing law : " Daily ye have re- 
ceived, daily give." Whether " freely" or not, let the 
records show. 



APPENDIX VI. 373 

The Grounds. — In 1888 this unexampled gift, enlarged 
by the results of seven years more of unremitting effort, 
embraces fifty acres within the corporate limits of a 
thriving village of twelve hundred inhabitants. This 
property is adorned by handsome lawns on hill-side and 
meadow, ample groves, lakelet, brook, and spring, all 
made accessible by smooth and well-kept asphalt walks. 
North of the street which divides the grounds is the 
beautiful " Peirce Pavilion," built by the generous friend 
whose name it bears, and by him presented to Dr. Foster 
as a part of a gift of fifteen thousand dollars, made in 
testimony of the giver's regard for the man, and sympathy 
with and confidence in his work. 

The Buildings. — 1. The Sanitarium, on the original 
site ; two hundred and forty feet of front, four and five 
stories in height, covering solidly over an acre of ground ; 
with one hundred and fifty rooms for guests, and as 
many more for the attendants, the numerous bath-rooms, 
dining- and waiting-rooms, offices, parlor, gymnasium, 
and chapel. 

2. The Annex, two hundred and twenty feet front, 
having on the ground floor nine rented stores, with par- 
lor, offices, and bath-rooms, and above these, sixty rooms 
for guests and attendants. 

3. The pretty cottage which is now Dr. Foster's home, 
and after him is to be occupied by his successor, the 
medical head of the institution. 

4. At some distance from the Sanitarium, though in 
the same enclosure, the large and well-furnished brick 
building for the. manufacture of the illuminating gas 
used in the house and other parts of the village. 

5. The fine brick stable and carriage barn, and four 



374 APPENDIX VI. 

separate buildings for business managers and other 
helpers. 

6. At a still greater distance the engine-house, with its 
six large steel boilers and other apparatus, costing not 
long since some twenty-five thousand dollars. This, 
with its noise, smoke, and possibilities of accident far 
removed from the other buildings, carries on by a sys- 
tem of underground pipes a manifold work, — furnishing 
steam by which Sanitarium, Annex, and Cottage are 
heated in all seasons, raising to proper temperature the 
tons of water daily used in the numerous baths, assisting 
in the cooking of large portions of the food, and supply- 
ing the power for running the passenger and baggage 
elevator, the static electrical machine, the mechanical 
massage department, the electric lights in the grounds 
and public rooms, the organ motor, the laundry, and, 
finally, the stationary fire-engine, by which, through hy- 
drants on the streets, grounds, and roofs, and on every 
floor of the buildings, streams of water could, in a few 
moments, be poured on any spot at which a fire might 
appear. 

The Farm. — One mile north, a part of the same plan 
and gift, is a farm of one hundred acres, to which Dr. 
Foster has this year added an adjoining one of one hun- 
dred and sixty acres. This property, with its dwellings, 
barns, machinery, creamery, and one hundred head of 
blooded stock, representing a value of not less than fifty 
thousand dollars, is held as the source of supply for the 
tons of the purest and richest milk, cream, butter, and 
other articles of food which the house provides for its 
guests. 

The Chapel. — In this We come to that feature of the 



APPENDIX VI. 375 

house which distinguishes it from all others of its kind, 
though some see in it only a proof of what they call the 
founder's " fanaticism." Located in a most desirable part 
of the house, and accessible by scores who at home can 
never enjoy any public service; occupying space such 
as is now given to rooms with an aggregate rental of 
thirteen thousand nine hundred dollars per year, they 
fail to see good reason in holding it for purposes which, 
proper enough for those who wish, could just as well be 
met by occasional use of the parlors, as in other public 
places. But many others see, believe, and approve the 
" faith" which is expressed in it, as also in the founder's 
published utterance : " Recognizing, as we do, the power 
of the mind over the body and the salutary effect of a 
consistent religious faith upon the sick, we hold it to be 
the first duty of the institution to seek to bring its 
patients under the power and influence of the Word and 
worship of God as a means of restoring mind and body 
to health." Hence the chapel, to many the most attrac- 
tive room in the house, dedicated to God thirty years 
ago, but beautified and enlarged for its present audiences 
of two hundred to two hundred and fifty, furnished with 
an organ costing two thousand dollars, and a volume of 
fifteen hundred hymns and two hundred and fifty tunes, 
selected, arranged, and printed, at an outlay of twenty- 
five hundred dollars, especially for this place. 

The Services. — All this is truly a costly offering, but 
made in hearty sympathy with Him who said, " Neither 
will I offer unto the Lord my God of that which cost 
me nothing." 

Here each morning there is a family gathering for a 
few moments of song, Scripture reading, and prayer. 



376 APPENDIX VI. 

This is conducted by the chaplain, by one of the faculty 
in a fixed order, or by some ministerial or lay guest in- 
vited by the chaplain. 

An hour of each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday 
evening is given to singing and prayer, with reading and 
conversation on some Bible passage or topic previously 
assigned, Dr. Foster leading the service. 

On each Saturday evening there is here a similar 
gathering for ladies only, led by Mrs. Foster. Each 
Sabbath opens with its usual season of family worship, 
at 8 o'clock. At 10.30 a sermon by the chaplain or 
some ministerial visitor. At 1.30 an hour for study in 
the Bible Class, led now, as for thirty years past, by Dr. 
Foster. At 7 p.m., another hour for sacred song, prayer, 
and sermon or address. 

The first Sabbath morning of each month is given to 
sacramental services, in which, as far as possible, in reg- 
ular alternation, the forms of the Episcopal, Presbyte- 
rian, and Methodist churches are followed. 

One Sabbath evening of each month is also given to 
addresses on missions, home and foreign, with appropri- 
ate hymns and prayers. 

Books, Lectures, Music. — This is not a conventicle, but 
a Christian home. Its religious services are free for all 
to attend or avoid, as they will ; but for those who do or 
do not attend them, ample provision is made for needful 
and reasonable amusement. A free library of over two 
thousand volumes, from the pens of more than six hun- 
dred authors ; a reading-room with thirty daily, weekly, 
and monthly periodicals; fine parlors with pianos and 
organ, and musical and other entertainments or lectures, 
medical, scientific, or literary, one to four each week ; a 



APPENDIX VI. 377 

large gymnasium for bowling and other exercises, seem 
to offer ample provision for any hours which might 
otherwise hang heavily or move slowly. 

Treatment. — " Aiming in our treatment of disease to 
use in a liberal spirit all known remedial agents/' is the 
broad principle of practice adopted and published by the 
house, and administered by a faculty composed of mem- 
bers of every reputable school of medicine. This is a 
" water-cure" only so far as water may prove an efficient 
aid to other well-attested remedies, and they a help to it. 
To them and their powers is here added the use of the 
Turkish, Russian, and a score of baths ; water hot and 
cold, simple*and mineral, with and without electricity or 
meHication ; pure air, cold or warm, under high pressure, 
or medicated and taken as a vapor by inhalation ; gal- 
vanism and static electricity; the massage or Swedish 
movement by hand or machinery : and the general ver- 
dict has been, " No time for homesickness or mere idle- 
ness." But, as one humorous patient said of that most 
effective ally of all the other remedies, " Water exter- 
nally, internally, and eternally." More than three thou- 
sand patients this year — over seventy-five thousand since 
these doors opened — have been competent to say what 
they have found, received, enjoyed here of comfort and 
help for body and mind. 

Personnel. — And now a word as to the force required 
to carry on this ministry for the safety and progress of 
this work, and the comfort and restoration of the thou- 
sands of guests. Dr. Foster is by the trustees put in full 
charge of all departments, reporting and accounting to 
them at their annual meetings. With him the faculty 
consists of nine members: Henry Foster, M.D. (1850), 

32* 



378 APPENDIX VI. 

general superintendent; M. B. Gault (1875), medical 
superintendent; Mrs. M. B. Gault (1885); J. H. North 
(1882); J. K. King (1873); C. R. Marshall (1886); F. L. 
Vincent (1887); Bradford Loveland (1888); Miss Anna 
H. Barlow (1888); F. E. Caldwell, electrician (1885), 
— all regular graduates. Other officials, most of them 
long identified with the history of the house, are Rev. 
Lewis Bodwell (1870), chaplain; C. B. Linton (1867), 
business manager; J. J. Dewey (1873), cashier; E. A. 
Miles (1886), book-keeper; C. L. Judd (1865), building 
superintendent ; C. B. Cotton (1879), farm superintendent ; 
J. Erwin (1882), steward ; Anna B. Barlow (1884), matron; 
Mrs. D. Lamson (1883), housekeeper. Dates show the 
time of service. 

With these the rolls carry the names of one hundred 
and ten others employed in various departments in the 
house, and forty-five more upon the farm. 

What personal gifts and abilities have often done for 
personal gain, they have here done for " the Master and 
His cause ;" and who that believes and appreciates can 
fail to bid the enterprise a hearty " God speed ?" 

I cannot close this article without relating an event 
which occurred during the past summer. A few of the 
old patients of the Sanitarium made a private subscrip- 
tion of over seven hundred dollars, and procured a cele- 
brated artist to make a large portrait of the founder of 
the institution. Ex-Senator Cattell, a stanch friend of 
Dr. Foster for twenty-five years, was invited to come and 
present to the trustees the beautiful picture, which he did 
in an eloquent manner. It was appropriately received on 
their behalf by Prof. Gilmore, of Rochester University, 
and now adorns the walls of the large parlor. Although 



APPENDIX VI. 3 79 

Dr. Foster, on account of his extreme modesty, was not 
present, yet the parlors, hall, and veranda were crowded 
to give eclat to the occasion. None that saw the unveil- 
ing of the picture and listened to the eloquent addresses 
will want ever to forget the circumstances of the hour. 

George H. Stuart. 



CLOSING HOURS. 



After the completion of these memoirs by Mr. Stuart, 
at Clifton Springs, N. Y., he returned to Philadelphia. 
It was during the latter one of these visits, in October, 
1889, that a recurrence of asthmatic symptoms and 
physical prostration compelled his removal to Clifton on 
the 6th of November following. The immediate effects 
of this change proved favorable, though signs of in- 
creasing exhaustion reappeared. A telegram from the 
physician summoned relatives to his sick-room, but they 
soon returned home, as it was deemed his life might be 
spared for some months. 

Through the winter and early spring of 1890 his con- 
dition at the Sanitarium was marked by great tranquillity 
of spirit, and, though conscious of daily weakness, " he 
endured as seeing Him who is invisible." Fainting-spells 
now began to develop, and it was considered best he 
should be at once removed to Philadelphia. Through 
the generous courtesy of President E. P. Wilbur and 
Secretary John R. Fanshawe of the Lehigh Valley Rail- 
road Company, and Vice-President A. A. McLeod of the 
Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Company, a special 
car was placed at his disposal, and, leaving Clifton Springs 
early on the morning of March 29, he was brought to 
his son's residence at Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, where 
he arrived the same evening. Surrounded here by rela- 
tives, the joys of home life served for a brief space to 
stimulate his vitality, and, free from bodily pain, he 

381 



382 CLOSING HOURS. 

seemed to linger in an atmosphere of benignant love, 
which had his Saviour, his family, and his church as its 
foremost objects of devotion. It was during this time 
that his pastor, Rev. T. W. J. Wylie, D.D., called upon 
him, and, as he bade him farewell, tears of affection welled 
up into Mr. Stuart's eyes. 

Some few days before his death, and after a fainting- 
spell of more than usual intensity, he said to his daughter- 
in-law, who stood at his side, — 

" I thought I was gone." "I could not speak." " I 
thought I could not say ' Good-by.' " " I thought I saw 
the King in His glory coming for me." 

On the morning of Thursday, April 10, about eleven 
o'clock, excessive weakness compelled him to go to bed, 
and he never rose again. That same evening he was 
visited by his friend Rev. Thos. A. Fernley, D.D., who 
sang to him, at his own request,— 

"Jesus, lover of my soul, 
Let me to Thy bosom fly, 
While the nearer waters roll, 
While the tempest still is high." 

In the singing of these verses Mr. Stuart joined. He 
then asked Dr. "Fernley to pray with him, after which the 
latter said, "At evening time," then paused, and the 
dying servant of God added, with failing voice, " It shall 
be light." 

A little later on, he asked the various members of his 
family to sing to him "All hail the power of Jesus' 
name." 

When the last verse had been sung, he repeated the 
Scripture, " Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher 



CLOSING HOURS. 



383 



of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him 
endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down 
at the right hand of the throne of God." 

These were his last connected utterances, and, falling 
into a stupor, with but brief intervals of consciousness, 
he gently slept through the night watches. 

The early morning hours of Friday, April 11, 1890, 
witnessed a glorious sunset, as, midst a calm that bespoke 
visions of the heavenly rest, the soul was lost to human 
vision, and his life became hid with Christ in God. 

On Tuesday, April 15, his remains were carried into 
the Wylie Memorial Church, Philadelphia, by his associ- 
ates in the Eldership. Religious services were conducted 
by Rev. T\ W. J. Wylie, D.D., in which ministers of the 
various evangelical denominations took part ; and thence 
borne by his sons, sons-in-law, and grandsons, the re- 
mains were interred in Woodlands Cemetery. 

How expressive those lines found in Mr. Stuart's letter- 
case a few days after his death, — 

" I live for those who love me, 
For those who know me true, 
For the heavens that bend above me, 

And the good that I can do ; 
For the cause that needs assistance, 
For the wrongs that lack resistance, 
For the future in the distance, 
And the good that I can do." 

G. H. S., Jr. 



THE END. 



Printed by J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia. 



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